#so happy becomes an invaluable member of the team
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How I Met Your Brother (DC x DP)
Dan joins the Justice League - not as part of his rehabilitation, but as a reward for doing so well.
Tucker makes the grave mistake of mentioning Dan in front of Jazz. And as an eldest sister myself I would not be happy about an alternate version of my sibling being left completely alone in the world, no support, no family to then be turned into a psychopath. And I would be furious for them to then be imprisoned - not for life but for all time?
However, unlike me, Jazz is the world's foremost authority on ghost psychology. She has Dan out of his Thermos and in a larger enclosure within the week.
Now, a lot of fics have Jazz as a magical therapist who can say a few sentences and make any bad guy cry. Sorry, not today though.
First, they resocialise Dan like a feral cat (solitary confinement does make people get loopy), sitting outside his enclosure and hanging out, doing homework etc. This sort of gets him to figure out emotionally that he's no longer in the timeline where everyone he ever cared about died.
Danny discusses with him how many nightmares he's had over just the idea of losing his entire support network the way Dan did and he can't imagine what he's been through. But no emotions are not, in fact superior to having negative emotions.
After a few months, he decides that he does in fact want to actively try and get better. He goes to a therapist (because family members can't do therapy!!!) who's just unhinged enough to get a kick out of counselling a ghost from an alternate timeline.
There's only one relapse. Clockwork fixed it and they don't talk about it.
A month or so later they let him out of the enclosure for good. They offer to symbolically destroy it but Dan thinks they should keep it just in case.
While Dan's humanity has returned, his actual human half is gone forever. But he's interested in doing something with himself. He can't get a GED, or a degree, or be an astronaut. Maybe something in entertainment?
Tucker makes the grave mistake of mentioning that the Justice League headquarters are in space. Dan isn't as powerful anymore now he's no longer a halfa, but he knows he's handy in a fight. He loves space and due to having them repeatedly and ineffectively implemented against himself - a deep knowledge of international war tactics.
NGL, this isn't where I thought this story was going. But Dan is now an international politics, war policy and foreign affairs expert, I guess.
He helps a fair bit on the team, but his key contributions are his encyclopaedic predictions of how different international communities will react to events. If an out of control meta in Paris takes down the Eiffel Tower, he predicts which countries will immediately 'crack down' on their superpowered citizens - that sort of thing. It's invaluable for their PR team and young meta safety.
He's a friendly guy, doesn't judge anyone for losing control of their powers or going 'too far' on a villain who hurt their friends and family. And he never shuts up about his kid brother who is apparently also his best friend. He briefly mentions a baby sister he's never met and that makes everyone pretty sad.
He doesn't consider this Jazz his sister. He's already had a sister named Jazz and isn't looking for a 1:1 replacement. This Jazz is more like a mum-friend. However, he never had a Danny or an Ellie in his last life.
"My little brother told me about the trick to this level in Doomed 17, want me to explain what you're missing?"
"Sorry, I really can't possess you, even for 'anti mind-control' training. That isn't how overshadowing works, you can't become immune without exposure to ectoplasm in dangerous doses. No, I can't get you some pure ecto, my baby brother would kick my ass to hell."
"Yeah, my baby bro and I both wanted to be astronauts, I died so it's not in the cards for me anymore, but he has a real shot still, we're all rooting for him!"
Most Justice League members think he's a dead eldest brother with living siblings he's still in close contact with.
It's all fun and games until he tries to take a bullet for Batman during an ambush and it's actually an amnesia ray designed to make Batman forget about a specific case until the bad guy can complete his plan.
"I killed you all before, and I will do it again."
#dc x dp#dp x dc#mine#notfic#danny fenton#danny phantom#dc comics#dan phantom#dark danny phantom#tucker foley#jazz fenton#justice league#batman#bruce wayne
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To my girl, to one of the Scouts' finest warriors, Happy Birthday Lynne. 🎂
(NOTE: Her birthday has always been listed as February 17th, people. NOT December 17th as is still believed by some on Twitter and elsewhere. So can somebody be kind enough to tell these folks not to make this mistake in the future? It's right on the Wiki. Thank you.)
To most folks in the fandom, Lynne is probably just another face in the background, another random gal who got swept up in the action and was gone just as fast as she appeared in the relentless insanity that is Attack on Titan. But to me, she's one of the most underrated gals and to me, she's become somebody very close to my heart.
I have long been intrigued by Lynne from the moment she first appeared way back in Season 2. She may not have been with us for long, but she left a lasting impression on me.
A member of Squad Miche, under the command of Miche Zacharius and serving alongside our old gal Nanaba, Lynne definitely earned her place on the squad of humanity's second-strongest warrior, showing herself to be courageous and determined in combat, even when faced with overwhelming odds. She remains professional all throughout, and is a capable commander in her own right, doing her damnedest to give her comrades in the Scout Regiment a fighting chance to survive as Zeke and his army of Titans were closing in. She's an invaluable member of her team, with whom she successfully fought off the enemy for quite some time before Zeke dealt his next hand.
It's really no mystery how she found her place on Squad Miche. One good look at Lynne and you can tell, she's something special that too often has slid under the radar. In my opinion, she's truly one of the most beautiful ladies in the show, and she has a look about her that just screams of an absolute badass, a dependable warrior who you can always count on in the thick of battle, and the one you always want to have by your side.
Plus, it's been shown that she is very kind and caring. Always looking out for her fellow Scouts, particularly those younger and less experienced than herself when the situation appears hopeless. And when danger is near, she will not abandon you. Truly, Lynne is a gal with her heart in the right place.
It truly is a shame I think that Lynne did not get more time to show what she was really made of. As someone who appreciates the characters in the background, I have a particularly soft spot for Lynne, and as such I have tried to give her the attention and love she richly deserves. For me, she's virtually tied with Sasha as my favorite AOT character. And for me, I think that's really saying something.
I don't know what draws me to Lynne, but I wish she had gotten another chance, especially as she counts as one of the most elite Scouts in the Regiment. For the last year and a half I have worked to give her a character and a backstory that gives her a much fuller and more active role in AOT. And I hope to share this in the near future with anybody who might be curious enough to look.
In my mind, Lynne is the hero of another story not yet told. As quite possibly her most devoted fan, I only hope I can help to draw more attention to her, as AOT's diverse cast goes way beyond the trio of Eren, Armin and Mikasa, or even the other members of the 104th.
Plus, she introduced me to the many voices and characters of Felecia Angelle, a truly phenomenal actress who I also hope more people will take note of. You've all heard her in My Hero Academia and elsewhere, and what she gave us with Lynne was brief, but dearly appreciated.
For me, Lynne s just as near and dear as Sasha, Petra, or Hange, and for that she deserves another lease on life.
Until then it only seems fitting to acknowledge the birthday of my favorite AOT side character. Happy Birthday Lynne, lots of love for you and I hope she will continue to find infinitely more throughout the fandom. ❤️ ⚔️ ❤️
Oh and just to spice things up, I think I'll share this as well:
Credit goes to KrazyKamikaze44 on DeviantArt for this old but awesome piece.
Hers is not the only birthday today as I'm sure some are well aware, so keep an eye open for another as the day goes on. 😉
#attack on titan#shingeki no kyojin#aot lynne#snk lynne#hajime isayama#eren yeager#mikasa ackerman#armin arlert#snk spoilers#levi ackerman#snk anime#aot anime#snk manga#aot manga#snk fandom#aot fandom#snk fanart#aot fanart#aot analysis#snk analysis#squad miche#aot nanaba#snk nanaba#scout regiment#survey corps#miche zacharias#sasha snk#sasha aot#attack on titan sasha#sasha braus
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I'm considering adding a water pokemon to my team, but am very new to raising/training water pokemon. Are there any pokemon that you could recommened or any tips you could give on them? You seem to be very knowledgable about water pokemon and this seemed like a good place to ask for advice! Thank you :>
Oh you absolutely came to the right place to ask about water types in a battle context, I like to think I know a bit of what I'm talking about haha
Squirtle is an old standby of professor-sponsored trainers for a reason, they're very easy to raise and super adaptable. They tend to play nice with most pokemon, and don't need anything real special besides ready access to fresh water. They're pretty hard to come by, but if you can find one, they'll be an invaluable team member and a friend for life.
Marill is another good 'easy' water type, and I know Azumarill has seen a lot of time in the competitive spotlight lately. They're a lot like Squirtle in that they're adaptable and perfectly happy with just a kiddy pool and some diving toys.
Feebas can be hard to find in the wild, but it has a very dedicated breeder and collector base! Often times you can find breeders willing to trade hatchlings for basically anything, just to encourage other people to give them a chance. Feebas are extremely hardy fish, able to survive just about anywhere off of any food you give them. It's very hard to accidentally kill a Feebas unless you just leave it on land for a week. Combatively they're not quite as tough as Marill or Squirtle, but once they evolve into Milotic they become a REAL powerhouse.
Other honorable mentions include Lotad (Natural instinct is to Chill In A Pond), Surskit (mostly just a normal bug that wants freshwater), and Staryu (mostly just hangs out in the ocean). There's also gonna be the variability of the pokemon themselves- they're still individuals with different personalities, so you may find yourself with more trouble raising a Squirtle than your friend does with a Relicanth, but that's just how it goes! I hope my little recommendations helped!
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green shoots of rebellion
It’s interesting how obviously the Rebel Alliance and its members are still getting their feet under them during Andor. There are a lot of people who hate the empire but getting them mobilised and organised is proving tricky, and not just because most of the work must be done on the sly. Luthen Rael is a master spy (and I think Kleya Marki is too, though her great skills lie in logistics rather than shooting people) but most of the other rebels are newer to the world of espionage.
Mon Mothma is a great actor and a great talker, but she lacks the financial know-how to disguise her illicit funding of the rebellion against any serious scrutiny. Mon, being a genuinely honest politician, has never engaged in shady financial shenanigans before. Because she took up the role of Senator at sixteen, she has never worked in other fields like banking. She compensates for her weakness using her strengths; she correctly identifies Tay Kolma as someone who will be both able and willing to help her, scopes him out, and brings him in. Recruiting and fostering connections for the rebellion using diplomacy are two of the main skills Mon has to contribute to the later rebellion; she’s almost certainly the one who pulled in Vel Sartha and in Andor where the Rebel Alliance is very obviously the Rebel Alliance it’s clear how a diplomat would end up as the official leader. It’s just that Mon can’t bring those strengths to bear while she’s pinned down by the ISB.
Mon’s cousin Vel has obviously done some serious special forces training and can plan, fight, and infiltrate with the best of them – but Aldhani is the first major mission she’s led, and it shows. When the time comes to give the command to go beyond the point of no return, Vel freezes up. It’s a problem Vel will be less and less likely to encounter the more experience in the field she has, but it demonstrates the rebels are lacking in seasoned squad leaders if they are trusting crucial missions to inexperienced ones.
The rebellion is drawing in a lot of new people during this period. Every prisoner who escaped Narkina Five did so radicalised. The empire tightening its grip on worlds drives them towards the rebellion. But the thing about having a lot of new green recruits is that somebody needs to train them and the mix of skills they bring won��t necessarily be the mix the rebels need.
I think this is why Luthen is so keen to recruit Cassian – so keen he takes risks that might lead to his exposure trying to pull Cassian further into the Rebel Alliance. While Cassian only becomes willing to go all in with the rebellion in the final quarter of the season, he has been rebelling for most of his life in one form or another which means he has a lot of experience. He can pilot, he can lie, he can fight. He successfully pulled off a solo infiltration of an imperial naval base and walked out with a Starpath Unit without the imperials realising he was there. For Aldhani, where Vel’s team needs to make it in as far as they can without detection, the addition of a practiced infiltrator is invaluable.
Cassian is also comfortable playing second in command rather than feeling the need to be in charge. He’s happy to contradict Vel and challenge the heist plan, but he never tries to wrestle leadership of the team away from her. He turns the announcement system over to Kino Loy because he thinks Kino is a better speaker than him. Even with the ISB after him, Cassian is a great choice to be shuffled around and slotted into teams to provide backup as needed. Eventually, that has potential to have rebels from a collection of separate cells know and trust him so Cassian could persuade them to unite as a cohesive force as the conflict with the empire escalates into a full-blown war.
#Meanwhile in a Galaxy Far Far Away#star wars meta#Mon Mothma#Vel Sartha#Cassian Andor#the Rebel Alliance#star wars andor#andor spoilers
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The Caravan
(Pictured: In the early morning hours, Grovyle (♂) explains the intricacies of Zero Isle's temporal disentanglement, such that midday on one floor bleeds into midnight on the next — a starlit sky transplanted from a night from several weeks ago on the other side of the world; a kind of self-contained time travel. To the right is a Shiny Tentacool named Flaubert.)
When the three of is (Auburn, Leiland and I) first plotted our course to Zero Isle, we found, regrettably enough, that we were in need of both transportation and a solid excuse. With the Exploration Team Federation in the sorry, splintered state that it's in today, Zero Isle is effectively in a quarantine of criss-crossing quasi-governmental interests, burgeoning regional stigma, and Lapras Travel Liners unwilling to cut a path across dungeon waters* unless passengers have a damn good reason.
Caravan Master Kricketune's avid group of cryptid-hunters have such a reason, flimsy though it may be. Striving to validate urban legends is right up the ETF's alley, and Dr. Slowking — the hometown practitioner for both Leland and I, seen below — scrounged up enough connections to give us an "in."
Previous quarries of theirs allegedly include so-called "Paradox Pokémon" (middling success), the "Grandmaster of All Things Bad, a.k.a. The Wigglyman" (catastrophic failure), and now a "Candlewick Phantom," which no one thus far has deigned to tell us anything about.
(Pictured; isolated from larger image: Dr. Slowking (♂), who has begrudgingly joined this misadventure to Zero Isle as a favor to "an old flame" (likely Kricketune). Doesn't realize everyone can tell that flask of his contains hard liquor. Specializes in treatments for mental instability and issues such as retrograde amnesia. Would not be the person I am without him.
It would otherwise be a little awkward to have your doctor accompany you on a mission of such gravitas, but Slowking is "kinda fun at parties despite being a skeevy windbag" (to quote Leland) and "an invaluable asset, I suppose, if you look at it from a specific angle." (to quote Auburn). Regardless of what you may or may not hear about him, Slowking is a genuinely wise soul who I am happy to have along.
We joined the Caravan proper at a Sand Continent harbor as the merry troupe secured carriage after carriage onto the back of an uneasy-looking Gigantamax Lapras.** When asked why they didn't simply travel to Zero Isle from the Grass Continent, Caravan Master Kricketune muttered something about "The Wigglyman" and pointedly refused to elaborate. He has since politely asked not to be photographed.
Another notable character is Grovyle, someone Kricketune has hired as a "temporal consultant." Leland can't fathom what job experience you'd need to get credentials for that, and when pressed Grovyle remarked it's "not anything I'd recommend." He has nonetheless proved his worth many times over.
(The Mystery Dungeons of Zero Isle have degenerated to such a horrid state that temporal paradoxes and even temporal retrogression become legitimate possibilities. Everything swiftly congeals into nothing when one delves too greedily and too deep.)
Absolutely no relation to that Time Thief which the rumormongers jabber on about; Grovyle says he was born after. He apparently just has one of those faces.***
(On the other hand, as I'm writing this a more zealous member of Kricketune's troupe is accusing Grovyle of "canoodling with time legendaries" which caused him to legit spit-take his hot beverage all over Leland. So, uh, maybe something's going on with him, but he's also the most rational of any of us, so why poke the poodle?)
(Pictured: Flaubert (-) the Shiny Tentacool, who's one of the few with appendages able to manipulate the touch-screen phone camera. They mostly use it to take stylish photos of themself, but goddamn that is good camerawork.)
Also there is Flaubert.
Flaubert is stylish as fuck. It's an immense feat for a Tentacool to walk on land to begin with, but this mfer can dance. Every step they take oozes with charisma. If this were a tabletop game he would be the Face of the party hands down. They're, like, Bayonetta incarnate.
Also somehow strongest in terms of sheer combat prowess apart from Grovyle and perhaps Dr. Slowking (who's taken a hippocratic oath so who knows). If you're dungeoneering you want them on your side. Apparently they come from an ex-mercenary background.
How a miles gloriosus like Kricketune is able to recruit these kinds of people is a riddle for the ages.
Only issue is whenever Auburn catches sight of me even just talking to this Tentacool, he breaks down into hysterical laughter. Usually nothing ever phases that yellow rat, is there some kind of joke I'm missing? No one will give me a straight answer.
We've met several other friendly folk in the caravan, but for the sake of
shit ive got to something's come up posting this now
* (The majority of Mystery Dungeon encroachment — for now — is localized far out at sea, driving most ocean-dwelling Pokémon closer to continental waters for fear of being swept up in their eldritch gyre and assimilated into the generation algorithm, both lost forever and endlessly duplicated. The ocean's currents are in a constant state of Fucked Up, which is influencing natural disasters across the globe. Nowhere is this more evident than in the trecherous waters surrounding Zero Isle. Those on land may wish to downplay the problem however long they like, but those at sea know differently.)
** (The same catastrophic event that levelled most of the Sand Continent long ago scattered "Power Spots" all across the country. With careful application of Magnagate tech upon said Power Spots, the Sand Continent has become the lifeblood of the shipping industry, as Gigantamax Lapras Cargo Liners can not only navagate dungeon waters no problem but can do so with a metric shitton of cargo.)
*** (Auburn is fervent in his belief that the tragedy surrounding The Great Dusknoir's disappearence were a prolonged smear campaign to discredit the Exploration Team Federation as a governing body, and I am inclined to agree. Any hypothetical Time Thief would be, at minimum, a despicable maniac who deserves no recognition at all. Grovyle appears to echo these sentiments.)
Artwork compiled using assets from Drinka Mercep, Kaz_Creations, u/Windicious, JatersArt, et al. and official sources.
#pkmn rp#pokemon#pkmn irl#pokemon irl#mystery dungeon#pokémon mystery dungeon#pmd#morse code#wigglyman#slowking#grovyle#kricketune#flaubert#candlewick phantom#cryptid#artwork#ask blog#pokeblogging
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Volunteering Opportunities for Students
Many people spend their time amidst luxury and lead a lavish lifestyle. They live a comfortable life by fulfilling all their demands and necessities without any deadlock or complication. On the contrary, some people cannot even afford the necessities to lead a happy life. They need to fight every day to fulfil the basic requirements.
In modern times, it’s become essential to be self-dependent and self-reliant. If you want to become responsible and independent, volunteering is your best option. It is a great way to gain knowledge and personal experience while making a positive change in society.
Students who are involved in various volunteer activities can develop social skills and discover their true calling for the future. Through volunteering, they can meet new people, strengthen their ties to the community, and help society thrive. Finding the best opportunity is a crucial task, so this blog post gives you several volunteer opportunities to make your knowledge productive.
Why is volunteering important?
Volunteering helps students advance their careers much faster. If you volunteer with a foundation in your career field, you can gain technical skills and relevant work experience. Here are several benefits of volunteering that can help you in the following ways:
Make a difference.
Learn new skills.
Meet new people.
Can be a part of the community.
Make you competent and employable.
Gain confidence
Take on a challenge.
Builds communication skills.
Create connections.
Discover new interests, etc.
For more articles: Daily Booster Article| study24hr.com
6 Best Volunteering Activities for Students
Volunteering enables students to learn and grow into valuable members of the community. Volunteer candidates can develop life skills as they get engaged in various opportunities that are outside their comfort zones. These opportunities make students reliable, responsible, selfless, and willing to do more than what is asked. Let’s take a look at some of the volunteer activities that serve as a training ground for sharpening students’ skills.
1. Charitable Foundations
Students can volunteer with charitable organizations to learn new skills, meet different people, and ultimately boost their careers. They can develop skills in communication, leadership, finding solutions for problems, and working well with a team. Several charitable foundations are always looking for spare hands to help with events or to regularly highlight their work on social media. Check out community services on the Internet to see how you can get involved and give your best.
2. Youth Organizations
There are a wide variety of youth organizations that provide various opportunities and activities for college students to get involved in their community. These organizations aim to help young people deal with problems like bullying, mental health, substance abuse, etc. Volunteers can support youth by dedicating their time and sharing their talents with them. This can bring a great change in society as it expands programming for youth in the communities.
3. Tutoring
Tutoring is immensely a great volunteering opportunity for learners. It is an amazing way for students to share the knowledge that they’ve gained with those who may need help acquiring it. As a volunteer tutor, you can provide enrichment and invaluable support to children who are learning to read and write. You can teach all kinds of subjects, from practical to theoretical. So, those who are interested in tutoring volunteering can check the campus library, local library, and after-school programs to see their talent.
For tutoring volunteering, you can interact with "study24hr.com" and contribute to the portal’s service or activity with relevant knowledge and skill sets. The site allows teachers and educational institutes to publish their notes and get leads from students. You can join the portal as an instructor who can help students achieve the best possible outcomes. Furthermore, "study24hr.com" delivers an effective and collaborative learning environment by updating and notifying students of so many educationally important things.
4. Teach new skills
It’s not always necessary that you are perfect in each field. Everyone is good in his or her way. You may be good at painting, dancing, coding, or cooking. Whatever it may be, meet up with individuals at orphanages and NGOs once or twice a week and spend time with them. Try to teach them the skills that you are talented in and become part of the community to fight against illiteracy, child labor, hunger, and so on. In this way, you can make sure that your skills will live on and that you will make good use of your time and effort.
5. Campus Events
College students can make a positive impact by hosting and organizing campus events. If you take a walk around a college campus, you will find that events are happening every day. They are put on by university offices, student organizations, academic departments, or any other group on campus.
Nevertheless, the Campus Activities Board is always in search of volunteers for their event. Students are asked to volunteer to set up the event, take tickets, or check people for directions. So, it’s a great opportunity to learn about various activities, sports, student government, etc.
6. Political Campaigns
A political campaign is a rewarding and unique volunteer experience. Many students have a keen interest in political leadership and participation. They work hard and volunteer for political campaigns. When young people are contacted personally and asked to vote, it sends a message that their voices are wanted and valued. They knock on doors, encourage people, and distribute pamphlets to gain high votes. So, interested candidates can check out the local campaign office to see what opportunities they have for you to become a member of your favorite political party.
Conclusion
I hope you find the most appropriate volunteering opportunity according to your interests and skills. Besides, volunteering not only helps you develop new skills but also acquaints you with different cultures that serve humanity. So, if you are looking forward to being a student volunteer, it’s an overwhelming step toward your career. As young and fresh minds have the strongest zeal, volunteering is a great way to do something independently for society while bringing about positive change.
#volunteering#volunteers#skills#college#campus#students#youth#career#education#candidates#political#leadership#campus life#events#study24hr
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Into, Across and Beyond! Cast: EX!Alice
Replaces: Peni Parker and SP//dr
Created by: ASTRANOMICONX (Original Alice), AetherAsterisk (this retake)
"I'm not afraid of you!"
Alice, Xenophanes' accomplice and original second-in-command as he terrorised the globe with his altered copy of Sonic Adventure 2. Originally, she enjoyed assisting the crystalline God in his killings.
However, after enough time, she stood up to his temptations and willingly left him behind, going off the grid to get away from him. After that point, she lived out what was left of her days as a novelist in a secluded location that not even her family knew about.
Problem was, one can't just outrun a God. After Xeno got his new apprentice in the form of Caffrin the Gamer Girl, Alice was tracked down and killed, with her soul being forced into a new game, which was a supposedly-planned sequel to Sonic 1 which was split into Sonic 2 and CD. Some say her body is still sealed in the game, her heart on a pedestal close to it.
After then, a special vessel of Amy Rose was made specifically for Alice, but her determination to take down Xenophanes and his little sidekick once and for all never wavered, and so she spent plenty of runs helping players evade their own impending fates and taking any means necessary to ultimately win.
Granted, due to being seen as predictable, she never managed to come out on top, but she did a real good job holding out against the tyranny of her old friend and his new accomplice. But all soon changed when Veronica, Caffrin's sister in the real world, forced herself into the game to put things right and turn her sister back to a positive light.
They later succeeded in getting Caffrin to make a change, and she later contributed in finally putting an end to the monster, albeit at the cost of her life. Alice couldn't remain angry at Caffrin for what she did, especially considering the invaluable sacrifice she made to save many.
With the game world now lacking a monstrous ruler, Alice was able to dig through the code to help her with readying for further combat if necessary, which led to the creation of her trusty custom Big Arms mech, E4-R6:3 (a.k.a; Sonic 3 - Round 6: Boss 3), complete with AI taken from Sonic Generations.
She was the sixth and final initial member of the Blur Gang to show up in One More Hero, initially present to track down energy sources to temporarily use for boosting E4's power, and OMT!Tails was happy to help her out, alongside finding a way to get her back home. She made close friends with her new companions, though was still quite reserved from what went on, to the point that E4 isn't considered a friend to her in this AU.
At one point, Alice and E4 were left alone with Surge, who saw her as no different to the other Sonics, Tails and Amys of the multiverse, which gave her the motivation to badly damage E4 and almost pummel Alice within an inch of her life. Fortunately, Mr. Needlemouse was there to help bail her out of there, while OMT!Tails carried her to safety during the rabbit-hog's attack.
Sadly, the injuries left her with serious brain damage, causing her to lose much of her old memories and relegate into a genki girl personality to move past her trauma, a sort of inversion of what Peni went through, in a way. Her time in the vessel also aged her down from her mid-30s to roughly 16. Needless to say, she's become really optimistic and adorable in general because of it.
Amongst things, as the team mostly had their own quirks and the majority of them shot down OMT!Tails for not being ready, EX!Alice, even with most of her memories gone, remained one of those able to keep them connected as a team and encourage them to cooperate in the quest to stop Eggman Nega after Uma had to be hospitalised. This speech best sums it up:
"Hey now, hey now! Are we really going to leave Tails behind?! [...] The only reason you four are opting for this in the end is because YOU (CR!Sonic) grew bitter of your own Tails and got all angsty, YOU (OMT!Mina) lost yours to a monster and became a loner, and YOU two (Mini Sonic and Mr. Needlemouse) might not even have a Tails as a sidekick. [...] My point is, we've all got our own talents, but your ability to work together as a team is getting strained. I know I've got this vessel, but I'm still just a human. But when I had a plan, and I got help from a friend, we were able to achieve the impossible. Now, you're each the heroes of your worlds. Just imagine what could happen if YOU did that, along with Tails. You could save the universe."
During that finale, when it was time for Alice to leave, she gave Tails a portable SEGA console to use when he felt like doing so, and left a truly optimistic young gal. She did manage to construct a new mecha in good time for More than One Universe and other stories, and in good time, too, especially with the threat count further expanding across the multiverse.
If you wish to learn more about this version of Alice and have taken a keen interest in that little scrunkly Caffrin, you can follow AetherAsterisk over at Twitter using the below link:
Be aware that anything related to Caffrin's redemption and beyond is not officially canon to the original Sonic EX AU, though anything mentioned prior most certainly is.
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Psychology Interns Complete Internship, Bid Farewell to Counseling and Mental Health Center
Four psychology interns concluded their one-year internship at the Counseling and Mental Health Center and are moving forward in their careers.
The Counseling and Mental Health Center (CMHC) carefully selects psychology interns from across the country and Canada through a rigorous application process, where applicants share their relevant experiences and aspirations for their internship.
Boasting the nation’s longest-accredited university counseling center-based internship, the CMHC earned accreditation from the American Psychological Association in 1966.
Mark Zentner, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist and Associate Director for Psychology Training, explained that a selection committee reviews around 120 applications and conducts interviews.
“After the interviews, the committee creates a ranked list, which is submitted to the national match agency,” Zentner said. “About a month later, we find out who our four interns will be for the upcoming year."
Zentner said following their internship, interns typically pursue one of three paths: working in a university counseling center as a staff member or postdoc, entering a professorship position, or joining a private practice.
“In order to become licensed in Texas, the interns must complete a year’s worth of supervised clinical work and pass a national licensing exam and a state jurisprudence exam after they finish their internship year,” Zentner said. “Then they can become licensed as a psychologist.”
Saul Castro, Tayla Leibowicz, Terrill Taylor, and Denzel Wilson began their internships on August 1, 2022. After one year of serving students at CMHC, they are embarking on their psychology careers.
Castro, a clinical psychology student from Arizona State University matched in 2022 and expressed his gratitude for the learning experience.
“I have learned a ton about different cultures and the many ways students resiliently face adversity,” Castro said. “I added new tools to my clinical toolbox and refined ones I brought with me. More than anything, I learned the future is in good hands with such smart, considerate, and respectful youth on the rise.”
Castro plans to continue working at CMHC as he completes his postdoctoral fellowship.
Leibowicz has been in Austin since 2017 pursuing her PhD in clinical psychology at UT. She said she has enjoyed getting to experience her training in a place so close to her heart.
“One of the things I've learned is how incredibly resilient our students are,” Leibowicz said. “I'm consistently amazed by their strength as they navigate extremely challenging circumstances.”
Leibowicz will be working as a clinical psychologist in the UT Austin Psychology Department, and also plans to start her own private practice in the near future.
Returning to his native Austin, Texas, Taylor, a counseling psychology student from Texas Woman’s University completed his final clinical placement at CMHC before earning a PhD in counseling psychology from The University of North Dakota.
“This training experience offered me new opportunities of conducting various types of sessions such as single sessions and crisis appointments,” Taylor said. “I also learned about psychiatry and case management, and interacting with individuals within these program areas on my clinical team was an invaluable experience.”
Taylor is headed to The University of Maryland, College Park where he will be an assistant professor of counseling psychology in the Department of Psychology.
Wilson, who came to UT Austin from Dallas in August 2022, mentioned how his time at CMHC enhanced his therapeutic approach, allowing him to address various student concerns effectively.
“I’m excited to take away an advanced skillset that has allowed me to become more expansive and responsive to various concerns and issues that people need support with in therapy,” Wilson said. “I’m happy to have matched at this center because the staff has been an awesome source of support and inspiration.”
Wilson will return to Dallas to work at a group private practice, providing both in-person and virtual therapeutic services as he prepares for the national licensure exam to become a licensed psychologist in Texas.
In all, the psychology interns' journey at the Counseling and Mental Health Center has been a transformative experience, leaving them well-prepared and inspired to make a positive impact as they step into the next chapter of their careers in the field of psychology.
-Erin Garcia, Healthyhorns Outreach and Social Media Coordinator
#LivingTheLonghornLife#YouAreHere#YouDoYou#YouChangeTheWorld#MakeItYourTexas#InfluencingtheLonghornLife
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Scaling Up: Strategies for Taking Your Startup to the Next Level
Congratulations! You've successfully launched your startup, and now it's time to think about the next phase of growth. Scaling up your business can be an exciting but challenging endeavour. It requires careful planning, strategic decision-making, and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances. In this blog, we will explore essential strategies to help you take your startup to the next level and achieve sustainable growth.
1. Define Your Scaling Objectives:
Before embarking on the scaling journey, it's crucial to have clear objectives in mind. Define what success looks like for your startup and set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals. Whether it's expanding your customer base, entering new markets, or increasing revenue, having well-defined objectives will guide your scaling efforts.
2. Strengthen Your Core Operations:
Scaling a business amplifies existing inefficiencies, so it's essential to strengthen your core operations before expanding. Analyze your current processes, identify bottlenecks, and optimize workflows for maximum efficiency. Implementing robust systems and streamlining operations will help your startup handle increased demand and maintain consistency as you grow.
3. Focus on Customer Feedback:
Your customers are your greatest asset, and their feedback is invaluable. Actively seek feedback, listen to customer suggestions, and implement improvements based on their insights. Happy customers are more likely to become brand advocates and help you attract new business through word-of-mouth referrals.
4. Invest in Talent:
As your startup scales, you'll need a strong team to support its growth. Invest in recruiting top talent that aligns with your company's culture and values. Hiring skilled individuals who are passionate about your mission will contribute significantly to achieving your scaling objectives.
5. Leverage Technology:
Technology can be a game-changer when it comes to scaling up. Implement scalable and flexible software solutions to automate repetitive tasks, improve data analysis, and enhance customer experience. Embrace digital tools that enable seamless collaboration and communication among team members, especially if remote work is involved.
6. Expand Your Market Reach:
Scaling often involves expanding into new markets. Conduct thorough market research to identify untapped opportunities and assess the feasibility of entering these markets. Tailor your marketing and sales strategies to suit the preferences and needs of your target audience in these new areas.
7. Diversify Your Product/Service Offerings:
Consider diversifying your product or service offerings to cater to a broader customer base. Analyze market trends and identify complementary products or services that align with your core business. Introducing new offerings can increase revenue streams and enhance your overall value proposition.
8. Secure Adequate Funding:
Scaling a startup requires financial resources. Explore various funding options, such as venture capital, angel investors, bank loans, or crowdfunding. Prepare a detailed business plan and financial projections to attract potential investors and secure the funding needed to support your growth plans.
9. Monitor Key Metrics:
To ensure your scaling efforts are on track, monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) regularly. Measure metrics related to revenue, customer acquisition costs, customer lifetime value, and market share. Use these insights to make data-driven decisions and course corrections, if necessary.
10. Maintain a Lean Startup Culture:
As your startup scales, it's crucial to preserve the entrepreneurial spirit and agility that led to its initial success. Embrace a lean startup culture that encourages experimentation, risk-taking, and continuous improvement. Stay adaptable and be willing to pivot if market conditions change.
In conclusion, scaling up a startup is an exciting phase that requires careful planning and execution. By defining clear objectives, strengthening core operations, focusing on customer feedback, investing in talent, leveraging technology, expanding market reach, diversifying offerings, securing funding, monitoring key metrics, and maintaining a lean startup culture, you can set your startup on a path to sustainable growth and long-term success. Remember that scaling is a journey, not a destination, so stay resilient and keep innovating to stay ahead in today's competitive business landscape. Good luck on your scaling journey!
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Control Your Own Data with Züs | Weekly Debrief July 12, 2023
Control Your Own Data with Züs
Cloud Cover AMA:
Happy Wednesday! Our bi-weekly Cloud Cover AMA (Ecclesia #19) is scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday, July 13th, at 9 AM PST. Join us as Saswata presents the latest updates on the Züs Mainnet and the Active Set. Keep reading today’s post to learn more about blockchain updates and how to control your own data with Züs.
We highly value your participation! Feel free to submit your questions on the Discord channel or via Telegram. Now, let’s dive into this week’s updates!
Calling all Züs Community Members!
We need your help! As we approach the Mainnet launchs, we invite you to test our Apps. Your feedback is invaluable in ensuring a seamless and user-friendly experience. To participate, simply visit https://zus.network/launch-apps/ and select the App you would like to test. We kindly ask you to share your feedback on our Discord Channel.
Storm of the Week:
Züs Empowers Users to control their own data in a Data-Driven World
In the wake of the recent class-action lawsuit against Google over data privacy concerns, the need to change how we manage, and control data is more apparent than ever. The lawsuit was triggered by Google’s implementation of a new policy that permits data scraping for AI training, with allegations stating that the company extracted data from millions of users without their consent, underscores the risks associated with centralized data storage systems.
Züs aims to fill this need with our decentralized cloud storage solution. Our system empowers users to control and own their data, marking a significant shift away from the risks associated with Centralized Storage systems.
“Publicly available” data does not equate to “free to use for any purpose.” Instead, any utilization of data for purposes such as AI training should require explicit user consent. Leveraging blockchain technology, we can provide transparency, enabling users to verify how their data is accessed and used.
This approach not only preserves user privacy, but also prevents unfair competitive advantages for large entities like Google. No single entity governs vast amounts of data in a decentralized system, precluding such competitive imbalances. The road to decentralized storage comes with challenges, but at Züs, we are committed to overcoming them. Our goal is not just to build a product but to shape the future of secure, transparent, and fair data management. We believe the future of data storage is decentralized and user focused. Join us as we redefine the way we control, store, and protect our data.
Blockchain Updates:
Last week, the blockchain team focused on the Smart Contract (SC) optimization PR and initialized the benchmark tests on large data MPT. However, the performance was not effective enough to be merged, so they decided to postpone the PR and continue the investigation after Mainnet. Here are some assumptions regarding the reasons behind the suboptimal performance of the optimization on large MPT data:
a) The team observed that partitions slow down when one partition becomes full, requiring the packing and generation of a new head partition. Moving the item’s index MPT node results in a significant amount of MPT writing. For example, if a partition size is 10, we would need to access the MPT at least 10 times.
b) It appears that MPT path addressing becomes sluggish when dealing with large MPT nodes. If this assumption holds true, we will need to store information such as the global config and provider nodes in a shorter path to enhance the speed of get and put operations later.
The team moved focus from the SC optimization to closing backend issues.
The following are the main issues and PRs the team closed:
PR #2603 – Closed the issue here. It involved using benchmark tests to ensure that no extra tokens were minted after running SCs. The team added assertions in the smart contract to check for unexpected token minting and burning by examining the before and after balances of each transaction’s from and to addresses. Running these checks directly in the SC would significantly slow it down, so performing them in benchmark tests was a suitable choice. So far, all SCs have been working well.
PR #2604 – Replaced the zcnsc.GlobalNode WZCN nonce with partitions. Previously, the WZCN global nonce was stored in a map within a single MPT map. The size of the map would increase with the number of new zcnsc mint SC calls. The team fixed this issue by replacing it with partitions.
PR #2607 – This PR utilized gosdk to sync the client nonce in the 0chain repository, allowing miners/sharders to retrieve the latest nonce before constructing new transactions. It also gave us the confidence to import other packages from gosdk to avoid duplicate code. However, we kept an eye on the docker image and binary sizes.
PR #2585 – This PR provided a quick fix for the min lock demand. The team discovered a bug where the min lock demand config was loaded with the wrong key, resulting in the min lock demand config always being 0. This led to incorrect allocation and remaining demand calculation.
PR #2575 – Implemented max token supply checking during transaction execution. Further details about the issue can be found here.
PR #2577 – This PR introduced the usage of Data Transfer Objects in Update Provider SmartContract Calls. The update provider smart contract endpoints previously accepted an object as input, which caused an issue in distinguishing between unchanged and default settings. To address this, we modified the input to use omitempty with pointer types. Additional details can be found in the issue here.
PR #2573 – Removed the postgres-post container from the sharder, as it had no effect. Binding the initial script to the postgres container was sufficient.
PR #2552 – Eliminated repeated transaction validation code in miners when accepting new transactions.
PR #2584 – Fixed staked capacity during writeprice update. We checked the total data saved to avoid reducing the allocation size below the used capacity.
PR #2593 – Removed min lock demand updating in the event db.
PR #2574 – Addressed the fix for the block rewards endpoint.
PR #2592 – Resolved the docker compose issue with conductor tests.
PR #2564 – Resurrected useful indexes in the event db.
PR #2580 – Reduced max_read_price and max_write_price to 7 ZCN and added max_charge to sc-config.
PR #2594 – Reduced the offer when finalizing the allocation. This had already been done when canceling the allocation, so it was also implemented in the allocation finalizing SC.
Gosdk repository:
PR #1073 – Refactored downloads in gosdk to use sys.File. It introduced new methods such as DownloadFileToFileHandler, DownloadByBlocksToFileHandler, DownloadThumbnailToFileHandler, DownloadFileToFileHandlerFromAuthTicket, DownloadByBlocksToFileHandlerFromAuthTicket, and DownloadThumbnailToFileHandlerFromAuthTicket to allow the usage of any in-memory implementations of the sys.File interface. Additionally, a new fileHandlerDownloader option was added, utilizing these new methods for sdk.CreateDownloader.
PR #1034 – Exposed multiop winsdk.
PR #1013 – Added the path in the thumbnail hash.
PR #1004 – Refactored repair.
PR #1085 – Changed the contract of Sharder and Miner update settings, which was part of the fix for the issue here.
PR #1084 – Added support for sending chunks.
PR #1090 – Fixed the download file callback panic.
PR #1096 – Resumed download.
PR #1099 – Cleaned up the preferredBlobbers list from the chain config.
PR #1093 – Fixed the excluded path.
PR #1033 – Displayed the correct size.
Blobber:
PR #1114 – Removed the fileID from the fileMetaHash in the blobber.
PR #1140 – Updated the challenge timing submission.
PR #1163 – Fixed the blobber size.
PR #1166 – Prevented redeeming readmarkers for free reads.
PR #1158 – Fixed the concurrent map write.
PR #1141 – Removed the custom nonce.
Control Your Own Data and Have Peace of Mind with Züs.
Data is a huge part of our lives and managing it can be incredibly challenging. Thankfully Züs is here to help. With the right tools, you will be able to control your own data and you can have peace of mind knowing that your data will remain secure and protected at all times. To learn more about Zus updates, join us for our AMA tomorrow.
source https://zus.network/blog/posts/control-your-own-data-with-zus-weekly-debrief-july-12-2023/
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Dear Rhonda, Today, we are absolutely thrilled to celebrate your special day here at Canyon Creek Orthodontics! But that's not all—your athleticism is simply awe-inspiring! 🏋️♀️ Your strength and agility are forces to be reckoned with, and you inspire us all to push our limits and embrace a fit and active lifestyle. During your three years with Canyon Creek, you have become an invaluable member of our team. Your hard work, passion, and positive attitude bring so much joy to our office every single day. We are grateful to have you as both a colleague and a friend! 🤗 Beyond work, we have had the privilege of getting to know you on a personal level. Your love for your family is truly heartwarming, and being a daughter to the first grandbaby, Kaiyah, must bring immeasurable joy! 💕 Your four sons, one daughter, and three amazing daughters-in-law are truly fortunate to have such a caring and loving person in their lives. And let's not forget about our shared love for food! 🍕🍫 Joe Bandidos Mexican food, 2 Jack's pizza, and anything chocolate are all incredible choices. Rhonda, on this special day, we wish you a year filled with endless joy, laughter, and blessings. Happy Birthday from all of us at Canyon Creek Orthodontics! 🎂✨ Here's to a day as amazing as you are! 🎉 With warmest regards, The Canyon Creek Orthodontics Team
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Trying my hand at a dsmp gem au cause if I don’t write this down somewhere I’m gonna go insane
The head diamond in this au is Green Diamond (DreamXD) followed by Gold Diamond (Foolish) and Black Diamond (Kristen). Grey Diamond (Philza) is the youngest, but only barely. Earth is only his first colony because Green didn’t think he had it in him to knowingly destroy planets. And he doesn’t. When he goes down to earth, he falls in love with the planet and then the gem war happens. But before we get into that, let’s look at the pearls.
Following the theory that crystal gem pearl was originally white diamonds pearl before she got swapped with volleyball, the situation for this au is going to mirror that.
First, gold and black pearls. For Foolish I was thinking Eret (immortal duo pog) and for Kristen, I’m thinking Bad. Not only because of his color scheme either, but because Philza’s original pearl, the volleyball of this au, is Skeppy. After the accident that damages him he gets confiscated and “fixed” by Green Diamond, (mirror of the dsmp egg storyline sorta) Bad gets all sad and mourning since he and Skeppy had been close. So he and his Diamond, Kristen, who will be most openly mourning Grey Diamond after his “shattering” (in mirror of Blue Diamond) are gonna vibe in their misery together. Meanwhile.
The Pearl that Phil gets in exchange from Green to replace Skeppy is none other than Techno.
Now I know everybody who does a gem au makes him a quartz or something, a natural born warrior gem, and that’s all well and good but hear me out; dsmp!Techno has this whole conflict about getting used and treated as a weapon, an object. Doesn’t that just seem like the perfect set up for a Pearl, barely considered sentient enough to be a person by the Diamond Authority and has been treated like someone else’s property his whole life, goes to earth and falls in love, not with the Diamond that brought him there, but rather the freedom he finds to be his own person for the first time ever. When Phil starts his rebellion, Techno leaps at the chance to never have to go back to Homeworld, and throws himself into learning to fight so well that nobody can ever make him go back. I like that a whole lot better than ‘Quartz built to fight so he fights’.
Anyway, moving on: Phil starts his rebellion under the guise of Smoky Quartz (I know that’s a fusion that exists already but I don’t have any better ideas for a grey quartz) alongside the renegade pearl, who btw used to be green but poofed himself and reformed pink instead because fuck matching a Diamond he’s his own goddamn gem now and pink is a good color. (Can gems change their color like that? Fuck it. They can in my au don’t @ me) Eventually, Phil fakes his shattering and reforms to look like a Quartz permanently. Along the way he picks up Ranboo, a permafusion of an Onyx and a Moonstone that calls himself Snowflake Obsidian. After the war is over, he finds a Citrine (a kind of yellow Quartz) that came out late and is much weaker than he should be. This is Wilbur. If you’re a fan of favorite-child-Wilbur-Techno rivalry, Wilbur could perhaps be bitter about how close to Phil Techno is. Perhaps even that Techno, a Pearl, is so much better at fighting than Wilbur despise him having been made for it. His arc could be getting over what he’s supposed to be and instead pondering what he wants to be, and by the end takes up guitar and singing and is happy :)
Phil eventually meets someone (no ideas here on who that is) and gives up his physical form to make Tommy, who despite his rash demeanor and sometimes harsh words really does want the best for his weird little family and is determined to help them out. Tubbo is the Connie in this au, completely human but learns to kick ass and becomes an invaluable member of the team.
For Lapis I’m thinking Niki, but as a fire-based gem instead. Like a Fire Opal. Niki who was wronged harshly (belittled and ignored in the dsmp/trapped in a mirror here) and reacted with bitterness and despair (team rocket kill Tommy arc/hating earth and continuously running away) before finding a home and friends and relearning to be soft again (with the syndicate/with the crystal gems). For Peridot I’m thinking either Captain Puffy or Jack Manifold. Either one I think would be good. Or Puffy could be Bismuth, perhaps?
For Jasper either Sapnap or Dream. Or maybe Dream could be an Agate back on Homeworld or something. Idk what to do about George, honestly. Fundy could be Spinel maybe?
Anyway. That’s all I’ve got for now.
#dsmp#technoblade#philza#eret mcyt#foolish gamers#mumza minecraft#dreamxd#skeppy#badboyhalo#niki nihachu#jack manifold#tommyinnit#tubbo#ranboo#captain puffy#dream team#fundylive#gem au#wilbur soot#sleepy bois inc#sbi
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CABIN FEVER - Aaron Dessner: Producing folklore and evermore
Sound On Sound Magazine // March 2021 issue // By Tom Doyle
The pandemic gave Taylor Swift a chance to explore new musical paths, with two lockdown albums co-written and produced by the National's Aaron Dessner.
Few artists during the pandemic have been as prolific as Taylor Swift. In July 2020, she surprise-released folklore, a double-length album recorded entirely remotely and in isolation. It went on to become the biggest global seller of the year, with four million sales and counting. Then, in December, she repeated the trick with the 15-song evermore, which quickly became Swift's eighth consecutive US number one.
In contrast to her country-music roots and the shiny synth-pop that made her a superstar, both folklore and evermore showcased a very different Taylor Swift sound: one veering more towards atmospheric indie and folk. The former album was part-produced by Swift and her regular co-producer Jack Antonoff (St Vincent, Lana Del Rey), while the other half of the tracks were overseen by a new studio collaborator, Aaron Dessner of the National. For evermore, aside from one Antonoff-assisted song, Dessner took full control of production.
Good Timing
Although his band are hugely popular and even won a Grammy for their 2017 album Sleep Well Beast, Aaron Dessner admits that it initially felt strange for an indie-rock guitarist and keyboard player to be pulled into such a mainstream project. Swift had already declared herself a fan of the National, and first met the band back in 2014. Nonetheless, Dessner was still surprised when the singer sent him a text "out of the blue" last spring. "I mean, I didn't think it was a hoax," he laughs. "But it was very exciting and a moment where you think it's like serendipity or something, especially in the middle of the pandemic. When she asked if I would ever consider writing with her, I just happened to have a lot of music that I had worked really hard on. So, the timing was sort of lucky. It opened up this crazy period of collaboration. It was a pretty wild ride."
Since 2016, Aaron Dessner has been based at his self-built rural facility, Long Pond Studio, in the Hudson Valley, upstate New York. The only major change to the studio since SOS last spoke to Dessner in October 2017 has been the addition of a vintage WSW Siemens console built in 1965. "It had been refurbished by someone," he says, "and I think there's only three of them in the United States. I heard it was for sale from our friend [and the National producer/mixer] Peter Katis. That's a huge improvement here."
Although the National made Sleep Well Beast and its 2019 successor I Am Easy To Find at Long Pond, the band members are scattered around the US and Europe, meaning Dessner is no stranger to remote working and file sharing. This proved to be invaluable for his work with Swift. Dessner spent the first six weeks of lockdown writing music that he believed to be for Big Red Machine, his project with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon. Instead, many of these work-in-progress tracks would end up on folklore. Their first collaboration (and the album's first single), 'cardigan', for instance, emerged from an idea Dessner had been working on backstage during the National's European arena tour of Winter 2019.
"I sent her a folder and in the middle of the night she sent me that song," Dessner explains. "So, the next morning I was just listening to it, like, `Woah, OK, this is crazy."
On The Move
As work progressed, it quickly became apparent that Swift and Dessner were very much in tune as a songwriting and producing unit. There was very little Dessner had to do, he says, in terms of chopping vocals around to shape the top lines. "I think it's because I'm so used to structuring things like a song, with verses and choruses and bridges," he reckons. "In most cases, she sort of kept the form. If she had a different idea, she would tell me when she was writing and I would chop it up for her and send it to her. But, mostly, things kind of stayed in the form that we had."
Dessner and Swift were working intensively and at high speed throughout 2020, so much so that on one occasion the producer sent the singer a track and went out for a run in the countryside around Long Pond. By the time he got back, Swift had already written 'the last great american dynasty' and it was waiting for him in his inbox. "That was a crazy moment," he laughs. "One of the astonishing things about Taylor is what a brilliant songwriter she is and the clarity of her ideas and, when she has a story to tell, the way she can tell it. I think she's just been doing it for so long, she has a facility that makes you feel like you could never do what she's capable of. But we were a good pair because I think the music was inspiring to her in such a way that the stories were coming."
Swift's contributions to folklore were recorded in a makeshift studio in her Los Angeles home. Laura Sisk engineered the sessions as the singer recorded her vocals, using a Neumann U47, in a neighbouring bedroom. Live contact between Swift, Sisk, Dessner and Long Pond engineer Jonathan Low was done through real-time online collaboration platform Audiomovers.
"We would listen in remotely and kind of go back and forth," says Dessner. "We used Audiomovers and then we would have Zoom as a backup. But mainly we were just using Audiomovers, so we could actually be in her headphones. It's powerful, it's great. I've used it a lot with people during this time. Then, later on, when we recorded evermore, a lot of the vocals were done here at the studio actually when Taylor was visiting when we did the [Disney+ documentary] Long Pond Sessions. But Taylor's vocals for folklore were all done remotely."
Keeping Secrets
Given the huge international interest in Swift, the team had to work with an elaborate file-sharing arrangement to ensure that the tracks didn't leak online. Understandably, Dessner won't be drawn on the specifics. "Yeah, I mean we had to be very careful, so everything was very secretive," he says. "There were passwords on both ends and we communicated in a specific way when sharing mixes and everything. There was a high level of confidentiality and data encryption. It was sort of a learning curve.
"I'm not used to that," he adds, "'cause usually we're just letting files kind of fly all over the Internet [laughs]. But I think with someone like her, there's just so many people that are paying attention to every move that she makes, which can be a little, I think, oppressive for her. We tried to make it as comfortable as possible and we got used to how to get things to her and back to us. It worked pretty well."
Drums & Guitars
For the generally minimalist beat programming on the records, Dessner would sometimes turn to his more expensive new analogue drum generators - Vermona's DRM1 and Dave Smith's Tempest - but more often used the Synthetic Bits iOS app FunkBox. "There's just a lot of great vintage drum machine sounds in there, and they sound pretty cool, especially if you overdrive it," he says. "Often I send that through an amplifier, or through effects into an amplifier. Then I have a [Roland) TR-8 and a TR-8S that I use a lot. I also use the drum machine in the [Teenage Engineering] OP-1. So, a song like 'willow', that's just me tapping the OP-1."
Elsewhere, Dessner's guitar work appears on the tracks, with the intricate melodic layering on 'the last great american dynasty' from folklore having been inspired by Radiohead's In Rainbows. "Almost all of the electric guitar on Taylor's records is played direct through a REDDI DI into the Siemens board," he says. "It's usually just my 1971 Telecaster played direct and it just sounds great. Oftentimes I just put a little spring reverb on it and sometimes I'll overdrive the board like it's an amplifier, 'cause it breaks up really beautifully.
"I have a 1965 [Gibson] Firebird that I play usually through this 1965 Fender Deluxe Reverb. So, if I am playing into an amp, that's what it is. But on 'the last great american dynasty', those little pointillistic guitars, that's just played direct with the Telecaster through the board."
Elsewhere, Aaron Dessner took Taylor Swift even further out of her sonic comfort zone. A key track on folklore, the Cocteau Twins-styled 'epiphany', features her voice amid a wash of ambient textures, created by Dessner slowing down and reversing various instrumental parts in Pro Tools. "I created a drone using the Mellotron [MD4000D] and the Prophet and the OP-1 and all kinds of synth pads," he says. "Then I duplicated all the tracks, and some of them I reversed and some of them I dropped an octave. All manner of using varispeed and Polyphonic Elastic Audio and changing where they were sitting. Just to create like this Icelandic glacier of sounds was my idea. Then I wrote the chord progression against that.
"The [Pro Tools] session was not happy," he adds with a chuckle. "It kept
crashing. Eventually I had to print the drone but I printed it by myself and there was some crackle in it. It was distorting. And then I couldn't recreate it so Jon Low, who was helping me, was kind of mad at me 'cause he was like, 'You can't do that.' And I was like, 'Well, I was working quickly. I didn't know it'd become a song."
Orchestra Of Nowhere
Meanwhile, the orchestrations that appear on several of the tracks were scored by Aaron's twin brother and National bandmate, Bryce Dessner, who is located in France. "I would just make him chord charts of the songs and send them to him in France," Aaron says. "Then he would orchestrate things in Sibelius and send the parts to me. I would send the parts and the instrumental tracks to different players remotely and they would record them literally in their bedrooms or in their attics. None of it was done as a group, it was all done separately. But that's how we've always worked in the National so it's quite natural."
On folklore standout track 'exile', Justin Vernon of Bon Iver delivered his stirring vocal for the duet remotely from his home in Eaux Claires, Wisconsin. "He's renovating his studio, so he has a little home studio in his garage," says Dessner. "It was Taylor's idea to approach him. I sent him Taylor's voice memo of her singing both parts, and he got really excited and loved the song and then he wrote the extra part in the bridge.
"I do a lot of work remotely with Justin also, so it was easy to send him tracks and he would track to it and send back his vocals. I was sending him stems, so usually it's just a vocal stem of Taylor and an instrumental stem and then if he wants something deeper, I'll give him more stems. But generally, he's just working with the vocal layers and an instrumental."
Vernon also provided the grainy beat that kicks off 'closure', one of two tracks on evermore that started life as a sketch for the second Big Red Machine album. "It was this little loop that Justin had given me in this folder of 'Starters', he calls them. I had heard that and been playing the piano to it. But I was hearing it in 5/4, although it's not in 5/4. 'Closure' really opened everything up further. There were no real limits to where we were gonna try to write songs."
Given the number of remote players, Dessner says there were surprisingly few problems with the file swapping and that it was a fairly painless technical process. "It was pretty smooth, but there were issues," he admits. "Sometimes sample-rate issues, or if I happened to give someone an instrumental that was an MP3, that sometimes lines up differently than if you send them an actual WAV that's bounced on the grid. So, sometimes I'd have to kinda eyeball things.
"If there was trouble it started to be because of track counts. I probably only used 20 percent of what was actually recorded, 'cause we would try a lot of things, y'know. So, eventually the sessions got kinda crazy and you'd have to deactivate a lot of things and print things. But we got used to that."
Soft Piano
Aaron Dessner's characteristic dampened upright piano sound, familiar from the National's albums, is much in evidence throughout both folklore and evermore. "The upright is a Yamaha U1 that I've had for more than a decade. Usually, I play it with the soft pedal down and that's the sound of 'hoax' or 'seven' or 'cardigan', y'know, that felted sound. It kind of almost sounds like an electric piano.
"I always mic it the same way, just with two [AKG] 414s, and they're always the same distance off the wall. I had a studio in Brooklyn for 10 years and then when I moved here, I copied the same [wooden] pattern on the wall. And the reason I did that is 'cause of how much I love how this piano sounds bouncing off that wall. It just does something really special for the harmonics."
When on other folklore songs, such as 'exile' or 'the 1', where the piano was the main sonic feature of the track, Dessner played his Steinway grand. "A lot of times we use a pair of Coles [4038s] on the Steinway, just cause it's darker. But sometimes we'll have the 414s there as well and choose."
Keeping Warm
On both folklore and evermore, Taylor Swift's voice is very much front and center and high in the mix, and generally sounds fairly dry. "I think the main thing was I wanted her vocals to have a more full range than maybe you typically hear," Dessner explains. "'Cause I think a lot of the more pop-oriented records are mixed a certain way and they take some of the warmth out of the vocal, so that it's very bright and it kinda cuts really well on the radio. But she has this wonderful lower warmth frequency in her voice which is particularly important on a song like `seven'. If you carved out that mud, y'know, it wouldn't hit you the same way. Or, like, `cardigan', I think it needs that warmth, the kind of fuller feeling to it. It makes it darker, but to me that's where a lot of emotion is."
Effects-wise, almost all of the treatments were done in the box. "There's no outboard reverbs printed," says Dessner. "The only things that we did print would be like an [Eventide] H3000 or sometimes the [WEM] CopiCat tape delay for just a really subtle slap. But generally, it's just different reverbs in the box that Jon was using. He uses the Valhalla stuff quite a bit and some other UAD reverbs, like the [Capitol] Chambers. I often just use Valhalla VintageVerb and the [Avid] Black Spring and simple things."
In some instances, the final mix ended up being the never-bettered rough mix, while other songs took far more work. "'cardigan' is basically the rough, as is `seven'. So, like the early, early mixes, when we didn't even know we were mixing, we never were able to make it better. Like if you make it sound 'good', it might not be as good 'cause it loses some of its weird magic, y'know. But songs like `the last great american dynasty' or 'mad woman', those songs were a little harder to create the dynamics the way you want them, and the pay-off without going too far, and with also just keeping in the kind of aesthetic that we were in. Those were harder, I would say.
"On evermore, I would say 'willow' was probably the hardest one to finish just because there were so many ways it could've gone. Eventually we settled back almost to the point where it began. So, there's a lot of stuff that was left out of 'willow', just because the simplicity of the idea I think was in a way the strongest."
The subject of this month's Inside Track article, 'willow' was the first song written for evermore, immediately following the release of folklore. "It almost felt like a dare or something," Dessner laughs. "We were writing, recording and mixing all in one kind of work stream and we went from one record to the other almost immediately. We were just sort off to the races. We didn't really ever stop since April."
Rubber & Vinyl
Sometimes, Dessner and Swift drew inspiration from unlikely sources; `no body, no crime', for instance, started when he gave her a 'rubber bridge' guitar made by Reuben Cox of the Old Style Guitar Shop in LA. "He's my very old friend," says Dessner of Cox. "He buys undervalued vintage guitars. Stuff that was made in the '50s and '60s as sort of learner guitars, like old Silvertones and Kays and Harmonys. These kinds of guitars which now are quite special, but they're still not valued the same way that vintage Fenders or Gibsons are valued. Then, he customizes them.
"Recently he started retrofitting these guitars with a rubber bridge and flatwound strings. He'll take, like, an acoustic Silvertone from 1958 and put a bridge on it that's covered in this kind of rubber that deadens the strings, so it really has this kind of dead thrum to it. And he puts two pickups in there, one that's more distorted and one that's cleaner. They're just incredible guitars. I thought Taylor would enjoy having one 'cause she loves the sound. So, I had Reuben make one for her and she used it to write `no body, no crime'."
Another friend of Dessner's, Ryan Olsen, has developed a piece of software called the Allovers Hi-Hat Generator which helped create the unusual harmonic loops that feature on `marjorie'. "It's not available on the market," Dessner says of the software. "It's just something that he uses personally, but I think hopefully eventually it'll come out. I wouldn't say it's artificial intelligence software but there's something very intelligent about it [laughs]. It basically analyses audio information and is able to separate audio into identifiable samples and then put them into a database. You then can design parameters for it to spit out sequences that are incredibly musical.
"When Ryan comes here, he'll just take all kinds of things that I give him and run it through there and then it'll spit out, like, three hours of stuff. Then I go through it and find the layers that I love, then I loop them. You can hear it also on the song 'happiness', the drumming in the background. It's not actually played. That's drums that have been sampled and then re-analyzed and re-sequenced out of this Allovers Hi-Hat Generator."
The song `marjorie' is named after Swift's opera-singer grandmother and so, fittingly, her voice can be heard flitting in and out of the mix at the end of the track. "Taylor's family gave us a bunch of recordings of her grandmother," Dessner explains. "But they were from old, very scratchy, noisy vinyl. So, we had to denoise it all using [iZotope's] RX and then I went in and I found some parts that I thought might work. I pitch-shifted them into the key and then placed them. It took a while to find the right ones, but it's really beautiful to be able to hear her. It's just an incredibly special thing, I think."
Meet At The Pond
Taylor Swift finally managed to get together with Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff in September 2020 for the filming of folklore: the long pond studio sessions, featuring the trio live-performing the album. It also provided an opportunity for Swift to add her vocals to some of the evermore tracks.
"It did allow us to have more fun, I think," says Dessner. "Y'know, drink more wine and just kinda be in the same place and have the feeling of blasting the music here and dancing around and just enjoying ourselves. She's really a lovely person to hang out with, so in that sense I'm glad that we had that chance to work together in person.
"We were using a [Telefunken] U47 to record Taylor here," he adds. "Either we were using one of the Siemens preamps on the board, which are amazing. Or I have Neve 1064s [preamps/EQs] and we use a Lisson Grove [AR-i] tube compressor generally."
One entirely new song, `tis the damn season', came out of this face-to-face approach, which Swift wrote in the middle of the night after the team had stayed up late drinking. "We had a bunch of wine actually," Dessner laughs, "and then everybody went to sleep, I thought. But I think she must have had this idea swimming around in her head, 'cause the next morning when she arrived, she sang 'Us the damn season' for me in my kitchen. It's maybe my favourite song we've written together. Then she sang it at dinner for me and my wife Stine and we were all crying. It’s just that kind of a song, so it was quite special.”
National Unity
One key track on evermore, 'coney island', features all of the members of the National and sees Swift duetting with their singer Matt Berninger. "My brother [Bryce] actually originated that song," says Aaron Dessner. "I sent him a reference at one point - I can't remember what it was - and then he was sort of inspired to write that chord progression. Then we worked together to sort of develop it and I wrote a bunch of parts and we structured it.
"Taylor and William Bowery [the songwriting pseudonym of Swift's boyfriend, actor Joe Alwyn] wrote 'coney island' and she sang a beautiful version. It felt kind of done, actually. But then I think we all collectively thought, Taylor and myself and Bryce, like this was the closest to a National song."
Dessner then asked the brothers who make up the National's rhythm section, drummer Bryan and bassist Scott Devendorf, to play on 'coney island'. Matt Berninger, as he often does with the band's own tracks, recorded his vocal at home in Los Angeles. "It was never in the same place, it was done remotely," says Dessner, "except Bryan was here at Long Pond when he played. It was great to collaborate as a band with Taylor."
No Compromise
folklore and evermore have been both enormous critical and commercial successes for Taylor Swift. Aaron Dessner reckons that making these anti-pop records has freed the singer up for the future. "I think it was very liberating for her," he says. "I think that's the thing that's been probably the biggest change for her has just been being able to make songs without compromise and then release them without the promotional requirements that she's used to from the past. Obviously, it comes at this time when we're all in lockdown and nobody can tour or go on talk shows or anything. But I think for her probably it will impact what she does in the future.
"But I also think she can shapeshift again," he concludes. "Who knows where she'll go? She's had many celebrated albums from the past, but to release two albums of this quality in such a short time, it really did shine a light on her songwriting talent and her storytelling ability and also just her willingness to experiment and collaborate. Somehow, I ended up in the middle of all that and I'm very grateful."
INSIDE TRACK - Jonathan Low: Secrets of the Mix Engineers
Sound On Sound Magazine // March 2021 issue // By Paul Tingen
From sketches to final mixes, engineer Jonathan Low spent 2020 overseeing Taylor Swift’s hit lockdown albums folklore and evermore.
“I think the theme of a lot of my work nowadays, and especially with these two records, is that everything is getting mixed all the time. I always try to get the songs to sound as finalised as they can be. Obviously that’s hard when you’re not sure yet what all the elements will be. Tracks morph all the time, and yet everything is always moving forwards towards completion in some way. Everything should sound fun and inspiring to listen to all the time.”
Speaking is Jonathan Low, and the two records he refers to are, of course, Taylor Swift’s 2020 albums folklore and evermore, both of which reached number one in the UK and the US. Swift’s main producer and co‑writer on the two albums was the National’s Aaron Dessner, also interviewed in this issue. Low is the engineer, mixer and general right‑hand man at Long Pond Studios in upstate New York, where he and Dessner spent most of 2020 working on folklore and evermore, with Swift in Los Angeles for much of the time.
“In the beginning it did not feel real,” recalls Low. “There was this brand‑new collaboration, and it was amazing how quickly Aaron made these instrumental sketches and Taylor wrote lyrics and melodies to them, which she initially sent to us as iPhone voice memos. During our nightly family dinners in lockdown, Aaron would regularly pull up his phone and say, ‘Listen to this!’ and there would be another voice memo from Taylor with this beautiful song that she had written over a sketch of Aaron’s in a matter of hours. The rate at which it was happening was mind‑blowing. There was constant elevation, inspiration and just wanting to continue the momentum.
“We put her voice memos straight into Pro Tools. They had tons of character, because of the weird phone compression and cutting midrange quality you just would not get when you put someone in front of a pristine recording chain. Plus there was all this bleed. It’s interesting how that dictates the attitude of the vocal and of the song. Even though none of the original voice memos ended up on the albums, they often gave us unexpected hints. These voice memos were such on‑a‑whim things, they were really telling. Taylor had certain phrasings and inflections that we often returned to later on. They became our reference points.”
Pond Life
The making of the National’s 2017 album Sleep Well Beast and the setup at Long Pond were covered in SOS October 2017; today the studio remains pretty much the same, with the exception of a new desk. “The main space is really big, and the console sits in the middle,” says Low. “In 2019, I installed a 1965 WSW/Siemens, which has 24 line‑in and microphone channels and another 24 line channels. WSW is the Austrian branch of Siemens usually built for broadcast. It’s loaded with 811510B channels. The build quality is insane, the switches and pots feel like they were made yesterday. To me it hints at the warm haze of a Class‑A Neve channel but sits further forward in the speakers. The midrange band on the passive EQ is a huge part of its charm, it really does feel like you’re changing the tone of the actual source rather than the recording. Most microphones go through the desk on their way into Pro Tools, though we sometimes use outboard Neve 1064 mic pres. Occasionally I use the Siemens to sum a mix.
“We have a pair of ATC SCM45 monitors, which sound very clear in the large room. The ceiling is very high, and the front wall is about 25 feet behind the monitors. There are diffusers on the sidewalls and the back walls are absorbing, so there are very few reflections. Aaron and I will be listening in tons of different ways. I’ll listen in my home studio with similar ATC SCM20 monitors or on my ‘70s Marantz hi‑fi setup. Aaron is always checking things in his car, and if there’s something that is bugging him, I’ll join him in his car to find out what he hears.”
Low works at Long Pond and with Dessner most of the time, though he does find time to do other projects, among hem this last year the War On Drugs, Waxahatchee and Nap Eyes. When lockdown started in Spring 2020, Low tacked up on supplies and "had a bunch f mixes lined up". Meanwhile, on the Eest Coast, Swift had seen her Lover Fest our cancelled. With help from engineer aura Sisk, she set up a makeshift studio which she dubbed Kitty Committee in bedroom in her Los Angeles home, and began working with long-term producer nd co-writer Jack Antonoff. At the end of April, however, Swift also started working with Dessner, which took the project in different direction. The impressionistic, atmospheric, electro-folk instrumentals Dessner sent her were mostly composed nd recorded by him at Long Pond, assisted by Low.
Sketching Sessions
The instrumental sketches Aaron makes come into being in different ways," elaborates Low. "Sometimes they are more fleshed-out ideas, sometimes they are less formed. But normally Aaron will set himself up in the studio, surrounded by instruments and synths, and he'll construct a track. Once he feels it makes some kind of sense I'll come in and take a listen and then we together develop what's there.
"I don't call his sketches demos, because while many instruments are added and replaced later on, most of the original parts end up in the final version of the song. We end up in the final version of the song. We try to get the sketches to a place where they are already very engaging as instrumental are already very engaging as instrumental tracks. Aaron and I are always obsessively listening, because we constantly want to hear things that feel inspiring and musical, not just a bed of music in the background. It takes longer to create, but in this case also gave Taylor more to latch onto, both emotionally and in terms of musical inspiration. Hearing melodies woven in the music triggered new melodies."
Not long after Dessner and Low sent each sketch to Swift, they would receive her voice memos in return, and they'd load them into the Pro Tools session of the sketch in question. Dessner and Low then continued to develop the songs, in close collaboration with Swift. "Taylor's voice memos often came with suggestions for how to edit the sketches: maybe throw in a bridge somewhere, shorten a section, change the chords or arrangement somewhere, and so on. Aaron would have similar ideas, and he then developed the arrangements, often with his brother Bryce, adding or replacing instruments. This happened fast, and became very interactive between us and Taylor, even though we were working remotely. When we added instruments, we were reacting to the way my rough mixes felt at the very beginning. Of course, it was also dictated by how Taylor wrote and sang to the tracks."
Dessner supplied sketches for nine and produced 10 of folklore's 16 songs, playing many different types of guitars, keyboards and synths as well as percussion and programmed drums. Instruments that were added later include live strings, drums, trombone, accordion, clarinet, harpsichord and more, with his brother Bryce doing many of the orchestrations. Most overdubs by other musicians were done remotely as well. Throughout, Low was keeping an overview of everything that was going on and mixing the material, so it was as presentable and inspiring as possible.
Mixing folklore
Although Dessner has called folklore an "anti-pop album", the world's number-one pop mixer Serban Ghenea was drafted in to mix seven tracks, while Low did the remainder.
"It was exciting to have Serban involved," explains Low, "because he did things I'd never do or be able to do. The way the vocal sits always at the forefront, along with the clarity he gets in his mixes, is remarkable. A great example of this is on the song 'epiphany'. There is so much beautiful space and the vocal feels effortlessly placed. It was really interesting to hear where he took things, because we were so close to the entire process in every way. Hearing a totally new perspective was eye-opening and refreshing.
"Throughout the entire process we were trying to maintain the original feel. Sometimes this was hard, because that initial rawness would get lost in large arrangements and additional layering. With revisions of folklore in particular we sometimes were losing the emotional weight from earlier more casual mixes. Because I was always mixing, there was also always the danger of over-mixing.
"We were trying to get the best of each mix version, and sometimes that meant stepping backwards, and grabbing a piano chain from an earlier mix, or going three versions back to before we added orchestration. There were definitely moments of thinking, 'Is this going to compete sonically? Is this loud enough?' We knew we loved the way the songs sounded as we were building them, so we stuck with what we knew. There were times where I tried to keep pushing a mix forward but it didn't improve the song — 'cardigan' is an example of a song where we ended up choosing a very early mix."
The Low Down
"I'm originally from Philadelphia," says Jonathan Low, "and played piano, alto saxophone and guitar when growing up. My dad is an electrical engineer and audiophile hobbyist, and I learned a lot about circuit design and how to repair things. I then started building guitar pedals and guitar amps, and recorded bands at my high school using a minidisc player and some binaural microphones. After that I did a music industry programme at Drexel University, and spent a lot of time working at the recording facilities there.
"This led to me meeting Brian McTear, a producer and owner of Miner Street Studios, which became my home base from 2009 to 2014. I learned a lot from him, from developing an interest in creating sounds in untraditional ways, to how to see a record through to completion. The studio has a two-inch 16-track Ampex MM1200 tape machine and a beautiful MCI 400 console which very quickly shaped the way I think about routing and signal flow. I'm lucky to have learned this way, because a computer environment is like the Wild West: there are no rules in terms of how to get from point A to point B. This flexibility is incredible, but sometimes there are simply too many options.
"l met Aaron [Dessned] because singer-songwriter Sharon van Etten recorded her second album, Epic [2010] at Miner Street, with Brian producing. Her third album, Tramp [2012] was produced by Aaron. They came to Philly to record drums and I ended up mixing a bunch of that record. After that I would occasionally go to work in Aaron's garage studio in Brooklyn, and this became more and more a regular collaboration. I then moved from Philly up to the Hudson Valley to help Aaron build Long Pond. We first used the studio in the spring of 2016, when beginning to record the National's album Sleep Well Beast."
Onward & Upward
folklore was finished and released in July 2020. In a normal world everyone might have gone on to do other things, but without the option of touring, they simply continued writing songs, with Low holding the fort. In September, many of the musicians who played on the album gathered at Long Pond for the shooting of a making-of documentary, folklore: the long pond studio sessions, which is streamed on Disney+.
The temporary presence of Swift at Long Pond changed the working methods somewhat, as she could work with Dessner in the room, and Low was able record her vocals. After Swift left again, sessions continued until December, when evermore was released, with Dessner producing or co-producing all tracks, apart from 'gold rush' which was co-written and co-produced by Swift and Antonoff. Low recorded many of Swift's vocals for evermore, and mixed the entire album. The lead single 'willow' became the biggest hit from the album, reaching number one in the US and number three in the UK.
"Before Taylor came to Long Pond," remembers Low, "she had always recorded her vocals for folklore remotely in Los Angeles or Nashville. When I recorded, I used a modern Telefunken U47, which is our go-to vocal mic — we record all the National stuff with that — going straight into the Siemens desk, and then into a Lisson Grove AR-1 tube compressor, and via a Burl A-D converter into Pro Tools. Taylor creates and lays down her vocal arrangements very quickly, and it sounds like a finished record in very few takes."
Devils In The Detail
In his mixes, Low wanted listeners to share his own initial response to these vocal performances. "The element that draws me in is always Taylor's vocals. The first time I received files with her properly recorded but premixed vocals I was just floored. They sounded great, even with minimal EQ and compression. They were not the way I'm used to hearing her voice in her pop songs, with the vocal soaring and sitting at the very front edge of the soundscape. In these raw performances, I heard so much more intimacy and interaction with the music. It was wonderful to hear her voice with tons of detail and nuances in place: her phrasing, her tonality, her pitch, all very deliberate. We wanted to maintain that. It's more emotional, and it sounds so much more personal to me. Then there was the music..."
The arrangements on evermore are even more 'chamber pop' than on folklore, with instruments like glockenspiel, crotales, flute, French horn, celeste and harmonium in evidence. "As listeners of the National may know, Aaron's and Bryce's arrangements can be quite dense. They love lush orchestration, all sorts of percussion, synths and other electronic sounds. The challenge was trying to get them to speak, without getting in the way of the vocals. I want a casual listener to be drawn in by the vocal, but sense that something special is happening in the music as well. At the same time, someone who really is digging in can fully immerse themselves and take in all the beauty deeper in the details of the sound and arrangement. Finding the balance between presenting all the musical elements that were happening in the arrangement and this really beautiful, upfront, real-sounding vocal was the ticket."
A particular challenge is that a lot of the detail that Aaron gravitates towards happens in the low mids, which is a very warm part of our hearing spectrum that can quickly become too muddy or too woolly. A lot of the tonal and musical information lives in the low mids, and then the vocal sits more in the midrange and high mids. There's not too much in the higher frequency range, except the top of the guitars, and some elements like a shaker and the higher buzzy parts of the synths. Maintaining clarity and separation in those often complex arrangements was a major challenge."
In & Out The Box
According to Low, the final mix stage for evermore was "very short. There was a moment in the final week or so leading up to the release where the songs were developed far enough for me to sit down and try to make something very cohesive and final, finalising vocal volume, overall volume, and the vibe. There's a point in every mix where the moves get really small. When a volume ride of 0.1dB makes a difference, you're really close to being done. Earlier on, those little adjustments don't really matter.
"I often try to mix at the console, with some outboard on the two-bus, but folklore was mixed all in the box, because we were working so fast, plus initially the plan was for the mixes to be done elsewhere. I ran a couple of mixes for evermore through the console, and `closure' was the only one that stuck. It was summed through the Siemens, with an API 2500 compressor and a Thermionic Culture Phoenix and then back into Pro Tools via the Burl A-D. I will use hardware when mixing in the box, though mainly just two units: the Eventide H3000, because I have not found any plug-ins that do the same thing, and the [Thermionic] Culture Vulture, for its very broad tone shaping and distortion properties.
"The writing and the production happened closely in conjunction with the engineering and mixing, and the arrangements were dense, making many of the sessions super hefty and actually quite messy. Sounds would constantly change roles in the arrangement and sometimes plug-ins would just stack up. So final mixing involved cleaning up the sessions and stemming large groups down."
Across The Rubber Bridge
The Pro Tools mix session of 'willow' has close to 100 tracks, though there's none of the elaborate bussing that's the hallmark of some modern sessions. At the top are six drum machine tracks in green from the Teenage Engineering OP-1, an instrument that was used extensively on the album. Below that are five live percussion tracks (blue), three bass tracks (pink), and an `AUX Drums' programming track. There's a 'rubber bridge' guitar folder and aux, OP-1 synth tracks, piano tracks, 'Dream Machine' (Josh Kaufman's guitar) and E-bow tracks, Yamaha, Sequential Prophet X, Moog and Roland Juno synth tracks, and Strings and Horns aux stem tracks.
"Most of the drum tracks were performed on the OP-1 by Aaron. These are not programmed tracks. Bryan Devendorf, drummer of the National, programmed some beats on a Roland TR-8S. I ran those though the Fender Rumble bass amp, which adds some woofiness, like an acoustic kit room mic. There's an acoustic shaker, and there's an OP-1 backbeat that's subtle in the beginning, and then gets stronger towards the end of the song. I grouped all the drum elements and the bass, and sent those out to a hardware insert with the Culture Vulture, for saturation, so it got louder and more and more harmonically rich. There is this subtle growing and crescendo of intensity of the rhythm section by the end.
"The 'rubber bridge' guitars were the main anchor in the instruments. These guitars have a wooden bridge wrapped in rubber, and sound a bit like a nylon-string guitar, or a light palm mute. They're very percussive and sound best when recorded on our Neumann U47 and a DI. On many of those DI tracks I have a [SPL] Transient Designer to lower the sustain and keep them punchy, especially in the low end. There's a folder with five takes of 'rubber bridge' guitar in this session, creating this wall of unique guitar sound.
"I treated the 'rubber bridge' guitars quite extensively. There's a FabFilter Pro-Q3 cutting some midrange frequencies and some air around 10kHz. These guitars can splash out in the high end and have a boominess that's in the same range as the low end of Taylor's vocal, so I had to keep these things under control. Then I used a SoundToys Tremolator, with a quarter-note tremolo that makes the accents in the playing a bit more apparent. I like to get the acoustic guitars a little bit out of the way for the less important beats, so I have the Massey CT5 compressor side-chained to the kick drum. I also used the UAD Precision K-Stereo to make the guitars a bit wider. The iZotope Ozone Exciter adds some high mids and high-end harmonic saturation sparkly stuff, and the SoundToys EchoBoy delay is automated, with it only coming on in the bridge, where I wanted more ambience."
Growing Pains
"Once we had figured out how to sit the 'rubber bridge' guitars in the mix, the next challenge was to work out the end of the song, after the bridge. Taylor actually goes down an octave with her voice in the last chorus, and at the same time the music continues to push and grow. That meant using a lot of automation and Clip Gain adjustment to make sure the vocal always stayed on top. There also are ambient pianos playing counter-melodies, and balancing the vocals, guitars and pianos was the main focus on this song. We spent a lot of time balancing this, particularly as the track grows towards the end.
"The vocal tracks share many of the same plug-ins and settings. On the main lead vocal track I added the UAD Pultec EQP-1A, with a little bit of a cut in the low end at 30Hz, and a boost at 8kHz, which adds some modern air. The second plug-in is the Oeksound Soothe, which is just touching the vocal, and it helps with any harsh resonance stuff in the high mids, and a little in the lower mids. Next is the UAD 1176AE, and then the FabFilter Pro-Q3, doing some notches at 200Hz, 1kHz, 4kHz and close to 10kHz. I tend to do subtractive EQ on the Q3, and use more analogue-sounding plug-ins, like the Pultec or the Maag, to boost. After that is the FabFilter Pro-DS [de-esser], taking off a couple of decibels, followed by the FabFilter Saturn 2 [saturation processor], on a warm tape setting.
"Below the vocal tracks are three aux effects tracks, for the vocals. 'Long Delay' has a stereo EchoBoy going into an Altiverb with a spring reverb, for effect throws in the choruses. 'Chamber' is the UAD Capitol Chamber, which gives the vocal a nice density and size, without it being a long reverb. The 'Plate' aux is the UAD EMT140, for the longer tail. These two reverbs work in conjunction, with the chamber for the upfront space, determining where the vocal sits in the mix, and the plate more for the depth behind that.
"At the bottom of the session is a two-bus aux, which mimics the way I do the two-bus on the desk. The plug-ins are the UAD Massive Passive EQ, UAD API 2500 compressor, and the UAD Ampex ATR102. Depending on the song, I will choose 15ips or 30ips. In this case it was set to 15ips, half-inch GP9. That has a nice, aggressive, midrange push, and the GP9 bottom end goes that little bit lower. There's also a PSP Vintage Warmer, a Sonnox Oxford Inflator, plus a FabFilter Pro-L2 [limiter]. None of these things are doing very much on their own, but in conjunction give me the interaction I expect from an analogue mix chain."
#Aaron Dessner#bryce dessner#Jonathan Low#the long pond studio sessions#making of#folklore album#evermore album#interview#about taylor#taylor swift#songwriting#producer#evermore era#folklore era#Sound on Sound Magazine#scans
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Aaron Hotchner x Fem!Reader
a joyful future fic
a/n: another one from 2026! aaron retires from federal service this year, at 57.
words: 2.4k
warnings: kids!, missing haley hotchner hours, language
summary: “Every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more, that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome.” ― George Washington, Farewell Address. au!october 2026
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SSA Mallory Kagan asks you to outline your career with the FBI - purposefully using your first name instead of using your title. It keeps the students guessing and paying attention.
Plus, the payoff when they figure out who you are is the best part of the whole lecture.
“My career at the FBI is more like a big tree than a path or a journey.”
You look out over the classroom - blue shirts abound - and take a deep breath to center yourself.
You’re used to giving this lecture with Aaron, but this is your first fall without him, which also means that this is the first academy class who won’t know him in person.
They’ll only hear tell of the legend SSA Aaron Hotchner was stabbed nine times, lost his wife to a serial killer, and kept going. You know they’ll hear stories about his severity, his general lack of sunniness, hear rumors about the way he laughs with his children, his wife, and nobody else.
You know the older agents tell stories about you, too. They say you ‘tamed’ Hotch, made him a little nicer. They might even say they’ve seen him smile at you, or they’ve seen you give him hell in public.
Aaron Hotchner is practically a myth, now, only supported by your reputation, tall tales from academy classes of yesteryear, and his own legacy.
That retired bastard currently sits in your house with your kids, right on his fine behind, very likely falling into boredom-addled insanity.
“Everything that I am - a parent, a wife, a friend, and an agent - is because of my work with the Behavioral Analysis Unit over the past nineteen years. My unit is my family, and I can’t get rid of them. Just like our own families, we love to hate each other.”
The room laughs, and you know you have them hooked.
“Jokes aside, I would encourage you to get to know your colleagues. Each relationship I built within my unit put a root into the ground, made the proverbial tree stronger - to extend the metaphor. I work with very few of the same people I started with, but I feel as steady and supported as I did back when they called us ‘The Elite Eight.’”
You chuckle a little, clicking through your introductory slide to showcase a photo of the BAU in 2012. You point to each of them as you speak.
“SSA Emily Prentiss, current unit chief of the Behavior Analysis unit and former head of the Interpol London office, responsible for taking down one of the most prolific international arms dealers in modern history.”
The room is quiet, a little awestruck, so you add, “She’s a bit of a big deal.”
They laugh.
“SSA Derek Morgan - you’ll probably hear stories about how he survived the Boston bombing with SSA Gideon in 2005, but don’t worry. He wasn’t there. He was with his momma in Chicago, celebrating her birthday.”
Another laugh.
You’ve honed this routine over the last five years, knowing what to add, when to pause, what to cut if the students lose interest.
“That said, SSA Morgan is one of the best profilers I’ve had the pleasure of working with. Today, he’s a consultant for DC Metro SWAT and is otherwise retired.”
Continuing down the line, “SSA Jennifer Jareau - JJ. Former communications liaison for the BAU, State Department, and DoD. She currently serves with the BAU as a profiler. If any of you are interested in PR or media relations, find an opportunity to speak with her about her experience. Her husband, Will, is a detective with the DC Metro Police and has plenty of stories of his own.”
A student raises a hand, and you give her the go-ahead.
“Sorry for interrupting -“
You stop her. “You didn’t interrupt. You raised your hand. Don’t apologize for taking up space.”
She smiles a little. “Okay. Um, I’m curious. How many people in your unit are married and/or have children? My understanding is that the work-life balance can be difficult in heavy-travel positions like the BAU.”
“It can absolutely be a challenge.” You look back at the photo. “In the course of my career, six of my colleagues have been or were already married and all of them went on to have children.”
“And you?”
You laugh a little, forgetting you’re alone up here. “Right.”
The class laughs, and you point yourself out on the slide.
“I still had my maiden name when this photo was taken, but now I share five children and a last name with SSA Aaron Hotchner.” You throw your thumb at Aaron’s likeness on the screen again for good measure.
You check in with SSA Kagan to make sure you can share everything you usually do with Aaron present - your marriage was often the punchline of your lectures, letting you toe the line of humor a little farther than you normally would.
She nods, a little smile on her face.
“While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend dating your unit chief or marrying your section chief -“ you pause, holding your hands up in surrender to the echo of laughter “- even if they are the same person - you can certainly find the best people without looking too hard.”
Hands shoot up into the air, but that always happens. It’s around this time people start asking the good questions. The people from their course materials and the people in front of them start to link together.
They also figure out that you’re Agent Hotchner. That Agent Hotchner - the one married to the Agent Hotchner.
You look out over the crowd again. “I know you have lots of questions, and I’m happy to confirm or deny any rumors about myself or my family, but,” you pause for dramatic effect. “Hold them for now - you’ll want to know the players before you ask the questions.”
Hands drop, but pens start moving. You continue down the line, skipping over Aaron.
“SSA David Rossi, a founding member of the BAU in the late 1980’s. He worked closely with SSA Jason Gideon, developing a database that we use to this day - one that outlines signatures, modus operandi, and victimology of modern serial killers. SSA Rossi is also well-known for his books - ten of them, in fact, that cover what we do in a kind of…”
You search for a word.
“Conversational format. He retired a couple of years ago, and is a full-time grandpa to all 16 of the BAU offspring.”
A few scattered chuckles pass through the room.
“And then we have Dr. Spencer Reid - I could enumerate his degrees, but we don’t have that kind of time. He’s the smartest person I’ve ever met, and remains an asset to the BAU in the field today.”
You click to another slide - a photo of all of you taken a few weeks ago.
“SSA Matthew Simmons - retired from the United States Army and former member of the FBI International Response Team, or IRT. He’s been with the BAU for ten years now. Like Dr. Reid and SSA Prentiss, he knows multiple languages - which comes in handy.” You look out and raise your eyebrows. “I hope all of you did well in your Spanish classes in high school - you might need it.”
Another laugh.
“SSA Luke Alvez and Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia are another pair that come from, shall we say, nontraditional backgrounds. While Garcia is no longer with the BAU, SSA Alvez is also celebrating his tenth year with us this fall.”
A student raises his hand, and you call on him.
“Isn’t Penelope Garcia the hacker known as The Black Queen? I learned about her work when I was at MIT.”
You snort. “Nice way to slip in you went to MIT, there, bud.” You pause, waiting for the ruckus to die down as the student in question turns bright red. “But yes. Her experience was invaluable to our team. Just to keep up, we stole an analyst from the NSA to replace her - nobody else could cut the mustard.”
You look back, stepping forward and pacing as you speak.”And finally, Dr. Tara Lewis. Formerly working in the FBI Counsel’s office as a forensic psychologist, she joined our team on cases where specific pathologies were in play before becoming a full-fledged member of our team.
“So, as you can see, there are so many varied qualities we look for in profilers, and your own path will be informed by the skills you develop, your temperament, and your dedication to the work itself. There’s no right way to be an agent, and when you leave the academy in five weeks, the whole world of the bureau will be open to you.”
Clicking back to your introductory slide, you turn to the front of the classroom. “I know all my colleagues well enough to take any questions you may have about their careers and paths through the bureau. For any questions I can’t answer, I am happy to direct you to them with the understanding they may not get back to you due to our caseload. I’ll take your questions now.”
Hands shoot up into the air, and you specifically call on the student in the back - the one you know has a question about Aaron.
“So, when you say SSA Aaron Hotchner, you mean the same one that worked the Boston Reaper case for ten years?”
SSA Kagan checks in with you, ready to shut him down, but you call her off.
“That’s right. SSAs Jareau, Morgan, Prentiss, Rossi, Dr. Reid, Miss Garcia, and I worked that case in its final year as well.”
“I have a follow-up if that’s okay.”
You tacitly give him leave to continue.
“How do you handle cases that get that… close? I know there were considerable...” He searches for the right word. “...challenges. How did you guys deal with that?”
Good question.
Returning to the podium, you lean heavily against it, lacing your fingers in front of you. “You’ve all read the Reaper case file, yes? It’s still included in the MCRT training courses?”
There are nods around the room, but you check in with Kagan anyway.
“The declassified version is covered,” She says. “They’re familiar with the full scope of the case.”
“Okay. So, as you all know…”
You remind them what happened, from 1998 to 2009, finally landing where the students want you. “And on November 23rd, 2009, Haley Reneé Hotchner was George Foyet’s 40th and final victim. She was thirty-nine years old. And she was my friend.”
The room is dead silent, all eyes on you, somber and attentive.
“The case was personal. It became personal because Foyet forced our hands. He attacked Agent Hotchner in his home and then targeted his family. So, the question is, how do we deal with that? Right?”
Even Kagan’s watching you closely. It’s the first time you’ve covered this case without the rest of your team. In your joint lectures with Aaron, the case is off-limits for questions. She’s never heard you tell the story in your own words.
You take a breath. “And the answer is… you don’t.”
There are some confused faces, so you elaborate. “There isn’t anything you can do to push the case away from you - that’s how people get hurt. In the meantime, you make adjustments. Agent Hotchner placed Agent Morgan in an interim unit chief position until the case was over, for the sake of his health and sanity. We chased down every lead, understanding that the faster we caught Foyet, the faster Haley and Jack, Agent Hotchner’s son, could come home.”
A young woman in front tentatively raises a hand, and you open a hand to her. “Yes?”
“What happened, you know, after?”
“We moved on as best we could. Going back to my original point -”
You leave the podium and take your place in the center of the floor again.
“- the trust you have in the people you work with can carry you through a great many things. And not all of you will see horror every day - but some of you will.”
You pause for a moment, hoping this is the part that really sinks in for them.
“Always have something to come home to. Always have something or someone that brings you peace, that can take you away from the work.”
+++
You set your things down and walk through the door, immediately accosted by two almost-eight-year-olds and their over-eager little brother.
“Momma!”
You haul Elliot onto your hip and kiss Sophia’s head as Caroline burrows into your side. “Hi, darlings! Did you already have dinner?”
Sophia moves to answer, but Aaron’s voice shoots around the corner. “Yes!”
With a smile, you seek him out, dragging the girls along with you. Lo and behold, Aaron’s at the sink, washing dishes. Isaac’s supervising - sitting on the counter, swinging his feet.
Aaron gets a kiss on the cheek from you as you pass and he turns over his shoulder, chasing you until you peck him on the lips, Elliot squished between you. Your son squirms, and you set him on the ground to chase after his sisters. Isaac hops off the counter likely off to investigate the happenings before retreating to his room for the rest of the evening.
For once, you’re left alone.
“How was your lecture?”
Your arms free, you wrap around him and rest your full weight against his chest as he backs himself into the counter. “Went well. Missed you, though.”
The corner of his mouth tips up. “Did they ask about Foyet?”
“Mhmm. It was a good segue into trusting your team and building each other up, knowing when to step back, etcetera.”
He nods. “Good way to bring it back around. How’s Kagan?”
“She’s good, loving it, as always.”
“Think she’s ever gonna retire?” He asks, tucking into your neck.
You laugh as he presses kisses to the underside of your jaw. “Probably not.”
Aaron leans back to look at you, bringing his hand to your face to brush over your cheekbone. “Are you ever gonna retire?”
“Probably not.”
“What if,” he says, his hands slipping into your back pockets, “you retired in…” He does the math in his head. “Thirteen-ish years and I make it worth your while.”
“Oh yeah? Worth my while? And you’ll be, what, a hundred years old?”
His eyes roll so hard you’re sure he could see his own brain. You pull him down for a kiss, but it doesn’t stop him from mumbling, “Give me a fuckin’ break,” against your mouth.
“Never.”
+++
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#aaron hotchner x reader#hotch x reader#aaron hotchner imagine#criminal minds imagine#criminal minds x reader#criminal minds fanfiction#aaron hotchner#criminal minds#tali talks cm#tali writes fanfiction#a joyful future#a joyful future fanfic
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Jill Valentine: What the Future Holds
For @openheartfanfics Meet My MC Event ☺💕
Career
After her residency ends, Jill takes over the Diagnostics Team, after the three other team members vote for her.
When Ethan steps down, Jill immediately jumps into action and starts interviewing possible candidates to fill the fourth spot of the team.
Finally, she decides to appoint Jackie. She’s proved herself time and time again, and she’s an exceptional doctor, so it made sense. And Jackie fits right in with their dynamics.
The team, and the hospital with it, thrives under Jill’s lead. They help a lot of people and earn a lot of worldwide renown.
The team was already known because of Naveen and Ethan, but there were doubts flying around when Ethan stepped down to become Chief of Medicine. Those doubts were quickly put to rest.
Jill is stubborn and determinate, and she works her hardest to make her team succeed. And the team succeeds more than ever because of her idea to work along with other departments at the hospital, creating a huge teamwork effort.
Harper is often busy, so Bryce and Ivy are her surgeons on call, and both of them give Harper a second and third opinion, so they consider every possibility out there. Rafael is the one she consults when physical therapy is on the table. Elijah, Baz and Zaid also help from time to time when they contemplate experimental treatments or when they need to research a new alternative, and Baz’s input is invaluable when it comes to immunology. Sienna is her pediatrician of choice. Even Esme and Gary come in handy from time to time. And even in retirement, Naveen is more than happy to help and give his input when the team hits a particularly hard slope. That applies for Ethan too; though, as much as he loves diagnostics, he tries to get involved the minimum, instead he lets Jill do her thing, and she’s damn good at it.
Jill’s management of the team also meant a new project she had been working on with Aurora. As soon as Aurora takes over Mass Kenmore’s Diagnostics Team, the two of them collaborate on projects and cases. And even if Kenmore’s renown isn’t as big as Edenbrook’s team, each group has something to contribute. They even collaborate on publishing articles and case studies. They work as well on their own as they do together. They help twice the amount of patients working alongside instead of competing with each other.
With Ethan as Chief of Medicine, she works perfectly with administration. They constantly help each other. He has the power to approve her projects and budget requests, but he only does it after hearing her pitch, just like other doctor, and he recognizes the true potential she shows.
She implements a program that gives third-year residents the opportunity to work with the diagnostics team. They are assessed and evaluated since their intern year, and when their third year comes by, Jill picks the two best residents. They’re not a part of the team per se, but they do a two-month internship with the team, work with them and learn from the experience.
Jill also dedicates part of her time to researching and working on zoonotic diseases. With her family of veterinarians, she’s more than qualified to do this, and after the maitotoxin incident, she knows there’s a lot of work to be done in that area.
Jill quickly becomes one of the most respected doctors and earned world-renown. She even becomes a published author.
Her books: “From Animals to Humans: Understanding Zoonotic Diseases”; “Diagnostics: A Comprehensive Science”; “The Challenges of Diagnosing”; “Solving Medical Mysteries: A Team Effort” (co-written with Aurora Emery) & “A Guide to Zoonoses” (co-written with Lucas Valentine).
A few years later, when Tobias decides to move to New York to marry Katherine, and inevitably has to leave the team, Jill is once again left with the task of looking at prospects for team member.
When that happens, Ethan is more than ready to step down as Chief of Medicine, after his fair share of working with administration, and he presents his curriculum to Jill, as if he was any other doctor.
Of course, Jill doesn’t have to think twice. She knows the kind of diagnostician he is, and she’s missed working with his brilliant mind.
Jill doesn’t just accept him into the team. She announces they’re both gonna be Co-Heads of the Diagnostics Team. After all, they’re better together than apart. Ethan tries to fight it at first but, well, he has never been particularly adept at denying Jill, and that was a matter she wasn’t willing to change her mind.
Though, as years working well with administration, both Ethan and Jill have earned other administratives favors, and working with them goes without a hitch as well. There are no more problems with the board like there were when Jill was a resident, and Ethan has learned to work with them, so the fights are almost non-existent.
Still, Tobias quickly earns his place as diagnostician in New York Presbyterian Hospital, and he continues to work along with Jill and Ethan.
Relationship with Ethan
Since confessing his love for Jill, Ethan was completely sure that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
The idea of proposing hadn’t made it to his mind yet, but he knew he was ready for them to move in together.
Even if the question had been at the tip of his tongue every time they were together, Ethan held back. Jill was already trying to adjust to the transition from resident to attending, and to Head of the Diagnostics Team. He didn’t want to add to it by having her move to his place.
But he had his mind made up, and he would ask her to move in with him as soon as things settled back. He wasn’t going to be deterred.
Except he hadn’t contemplated something, and that something made him stop in his tracks and reconsider asking her.
Because Jill, as Head of the Diagnostics Team, had a new salary. And with that new salary, the first thing Jill had done was get a puppy.
And no, not a little Yorkie or a Chihuahua. No. It was a damn Bernese Mountain Dog, that was going to grow into a seriously large dog.
Ethan already had Jenner, and even Jenner spent more than half of the time at his dad’s place in Providence. He didn’t think his penthouse could take a hyperactive Bernese Mountain puppy.
But he also knew his girlfriend. Coming from a family of veterinarians, Jill wasn’t going to leave the damn dog behind. From the moment she got him (“Satchmo”), Ethan knew they were a package deal. If he wanted to live with Jill, he also had to live with the dog.
He didn’t know how that could work with Jenner and in his penthouse, but he was willing to risk it. He knew he wanted to wake up every day by her side and go to sleep with her.
So, in September, just a couple of months after settling in their new positions, Ethan and Jill moved in together. Unsurprisingly, Jill knew how to handle the transition for both dogs, and made the move easy for all of them.
And just a few months after moving together, in December, Ethan popped the question. Jill cried through his whole proposal speech and couldn’t say yes, but she nodded fiercely and kissed him.
They had a relatively long engagement, until finally, they got married the following year, on October 16th, 2022.
The reception was huge, hundreds of people invited (because of the Valentine’s connections), though neither of them seemed to mind too much. They were just happy to be marrying each other. According to the media and tabloids, it was the wedding of the century.
Naveen was Ethan’s best man, and Luke (Jill’s older brother) and Tobias were his groomsmen, while Sienna was Jill’s maid of honor, and Kat and Ivy (her two sisters) were her bridesmaids.
About six months into their marriage, they decided to move to an actual house, and started looking.
Funnily enough, Jill’s childhood best friend, Hunter, told them he was currently working on a few construction and design projects in the area of Boston. He was the one who hooked them with a house and was their architect, helping them design their dream house.
A few months later, they were moving into a bigger house in suburban Boston, along with Jenner, Satchmo and Vienna (the roomies figured Jill had more space than them and could take care of the fennec fox better than them).
Starting their own family
It was about a year after their wedding that they sat down and talked about having children. Ethan had already worked through his trauma, and his past with Louise no longer held him back. Jill stopped her birth-control, and they started trying to get pregnant.
It took Jill a couple of months, and deep down she was terrified to let Ethan down and not be able to give him children, now that he had decided he wanted them. Ethan obviously eased her worries and told her the only thing he needed in life was her; children would be nice, but he really only needed her.
Still, Jill anxiously took a fertility test, and once it came out that she could have children, she tried to brush it off as stress, but still worried inside.
A few months later, Ethan surprised Jill by taking her on vacation, to ease her worrying and stress. He took her to a wolf sanctuary in Alaska she had mentioned she wanted to visit a few times.
Jill and Ethan found out Jill was pregnant by accident, and it definitely took them by surprise, but the news were very welcomed. At the wolf sanctuary, the wolves changed their whole demeanor and body language around Jill, and the keeper congratulated Jill on her pregnancy. Turns out, wolves are excellent at telling when a woman is pregnant even if she doesn’t know it yet; the animals get all odd and careful around the pregnant woman and take defensive postures around her. It was definitely a reveal worth telling.
Her first pregnancy, thankfully went without a hitch, and soon, their first-born came into the world, through natural birth.
Their son, Nicholas Jonah Ramsey, was born on August 24th, 2024.
Everyone was enamored with the little baby, with his dark hair and intense blue eyes, the spitting image of his father.
Ethan and Jill decided to appoint Rafael and Jackie as Nick’s godparents.
Six years later, their second child came along, also through natural birth.
Their daughter, Brooklyn Marie Ramsey, was born on November 8th, 2030.
She has her mother’s distinctive ginger-bronze hair color, but her father’s blue eyes.
Brooke’s godparents are Hunter and Sienna.
After little Brooklyn was born, though, Jill was informed that a third pregnancy could be fatal for her, that her body wouldn’t be able to sustain another pregnancy. And, after much deliberation and talking it out as spouses, Jill went under a hysterectomy procedure, which meant no more children for them, but they were beyond happy with their two little blessings.
Family and Friends
The gang remained tight-knit close, to the point where their children called the others aunts and uncles.
Even when they no longer lived together, they promised to hang out constantly and see each other. It also helped that they kept working together.
Eventually, Elijah and Phoebe eloped, and Sienna moved in with Raf. Bryce and Ivy already lived together. Aurora and Jackie were the last remaining ones, and they got a smaller apartment for the two of them for a while.
Then Aurora moved in with Hunter (once he fully moved to Boston) and Jackie got a place for herself and her new boyfriend, which she keeps a secret from the roomies until she’s completely sure the relationship is the real deal, because it’s the least expected pairing in the world. (Spoiler alert: it’s Baz 😂)
Even paired off and building their own lives, the gang kept up some of their traditions and kept in touch.
They even celebrate a few milestones and holidays together.
It tends to get a bit chaotic, given that it’s double the people, counting the spouses, but they all get along great and enjoy spending time together.
Tobias moved to New York once he married Katherine, but both of them still visit from time to time.
After traveling the world, Kyra moved to New York as well, where she met and married Jill’s older brother, Luke. Just like Tobias and Kat, they visit constantly.
Jill remains close with her family. She’s always been close with her siblings, and even more when they married some of their friends. And she grew closer to her parents once her own kids were born. Haley and Matthew Valentine definitely spoil their grandchildren rotten.
Jill and Ethan, along with Ivy and Bryce, make the trip to New York once every other month, to visit Jill’s parents, Kat and Tobias, and Luke and Kyra.
And once every other month, alternating with them, Kat and Tobias, and Luke and Kyra make the trip to Boston.
Jill and Ethan also drive down to Providence to visit Alan every few weeks.
All in all, they’re a big, happy, messy and extended family.
Tags: @jamespotterthefirst, @takeharryandgo, @aestheticartsx, @choicesfanaf, @fireycookie, @liaromancewriter, @trappedinfanfiction, @tsrookie, @genevievemd, @lucy-268, @writinghereandthere, @queencarb, @gryffindordaughterofathena, @ohchoices, @anntoldst0ries, @bluebellot, @schnitzelbutterfingers, @mysticaurathings, @iemcpbchoices, @itsjustamesshonestly, @shanzay44, @lsvdw-blog, @heauxplesslydevoted, @starryeyedrookie, @casey-v, @mercury84choices, @chaoticchopshopheart, @quixoticdreamer16, @a-crepusculo, @peonierose
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Zombie Apocalypse headcanon
I honestly love this! Though if there is a zombie apocalypse I’ll be honest, you do not want me on your team. I will most likely be among the first to go, I have my own zombie apocalypse plans which revolves around experiments.
I wonder how the guys handle this!
Sherlock Holmes
At first there were small incidents and he would accuse Mycroft of covering it up. But eventually the outbreak would be so severe there would be no avoiding it getting out of control. Sherlock would learn to recognize the traits people would start to exhibit if they were infected and hiding it. Of course he would be taken out of ground zero by his brother to hide away in a military complex. Although Sherlock would much prefer to be on his own without his brother or the military ‘protecting’ him. He would also rather be out there looking for John. It would be a battle of wits of Sherlock trying to get out so he could find John, who would undoubtedly be alive.
John Watson
John would be out the door trying to help protect people. He would shoot at the zombies, and be separated from Sherlock when he got picked up by Mycroft. John would find a group to stay with. With his field medical training he would be invaluable to the group, along with the little things he picked up from living with Sherlock, such as helping to recognize when someone may not be telling the group the whole truth. However, John would become harder over time as members of the group left, joined, died. With his PTSD getting worse.
James Moriarty
He’s fine. He has friends in places of power, and some that are still alive on top of that. He was one of the first people made aware that the government couldn’t stop it this time, and he did not delay in taking precautions. He has his own methods of getting somewhere safe, away from people, own emergency supply. Plus he has the help he needs.
Mycroft Holmes
You would never have known if he could help it. In a world with different experiments going at once, and so much focus on living longer it isn’t ridiculous for there to have been a few undead incidents. However, once it goes out of control he would have teams mobilized to pick up those most important. It would kill him if he couldn’t get to everyone on his list, it would be inevitable and he wouldn’t let it show that it bothered him, but he would remember.
Jack Stillman
He would long to be out there, on his own, an artist among monsters, who would be there to stop him from having his own fun? The answer would be Moriarty. Which would be the better bet in long term survival, but Jack does have his preferences. Staying with M would mean the group would have a doctor on hand, and additional support in dealing with other survivors they come across.
Sebastian Moran
Two Words: Head shot. He would be in charge of keeping M safe. This man would take the most shifts as look out, sniping any zombie he saw. The problem would be the cats. Others would be concerned about them carrying the disease into the group. James pulled some strings and got a military doctor to come and examine the cats to make sure they were not infected or carrying it and to help in how to plan to keep them safe. If he would have to leave them behind, he would have to leave them behind. Cats are resilient, he knew this. Though he would prefer to take them with, James knows that.
Jeremy Cassel
He is on Mycroft’s list, though it is seemingly more for sentimental purposes than survival. And while Jeremy is happy to tease Mycroft about caring, he doesn’t waste time before he figures out how to sneak out. The Phantom Thief is now doing what he can to help protect others who are not in a position to help themselves. Most likely he would end up going missing from where Mycroft wanted him to be, and Mycroft would accept that. Hoping to see him when this was all over.
Hercule Poirot
Also on Mycroft’s list, and he takes it. Doing what he can to help find a solution to fix the problem, scolding those who let it get to this point, if they are still alive. When they find more survivors he would be among the representatives talking with them and making sure no one was infected.
Arthur Hastings
Surprisingly also finds himself safe, though more because he was already with them when things happened. No one would say for sure if he would’ve been on Mycroft’s list, though Hercule promises that Arthur would’ve been on his. He helps with checking the CCTVs to spot survivors.
George Lestrade
In the first wave he jumped in, fearful, shaking, but he got to work protecting those he could, and trying to escort people away from the zombies. He wasn’t a great shot with the gun, but he could get the job done. Definitely threw up a time or two when he could catch a breath or when he went to check on survivors only to find the recently eaten. He would have himself a few quiet sobs, but mostly he would give a lopsided faked confident grin to those he was trying to protect. However, I fear he would not last long if he didn’t start checking those survivors for bite marks.
Mikah Hudson
Ideally he would be picked up with Sherlock. Ideally Mycroft would send team after team to find him. Ideally he would’ve been at home. However, if he was at school, he would have found a small group to be with and have barricaded themselves in. Leaving him to rely on the skills taught to him by the grown ups in his life. He would be a reliable member of the group, but it would not be without its own dangers. They would steal what food they could from the cafeterias, but someone would have to be able to sneak out to get it.
Henry Jekyll
He was one of the first to be moved to a protected spot, even before it got out of control. They needed his research for further experiments. It would seem no different than others times he would be hunkered down for security reasons, although it might go a little longer than he’d like. Additionally, he would make an addition to the list of people to be on the lookout for to pick up.
Edward Hyde
At first he thought they were messing with him. Zombies? Probably a prank, maybe even a prank show! But with the first zombie he had to fight off and that thought was gone. He would shout at the military personnel who would come for him about how they were idiots for putting people in danger with these experiments, he would check that his brother is alright. But he would decline to come with, even to the point of running away. He would find his own way to survive, even gain a few tag along members to his ‘not a group’ group.
‘Irene’
What the bloody hell do you mean Zombies?! She would be quick to get away from them and hide during the initial wave. She considered trying to go to Moriarty for help but decided she’d rather be a zombie with a chance of biting the man than ask for a favor. With a smile and a few soft words she would travel group to group, getting along most with Edward in his, being careful to avoid John when she heard he was also alive and somewhere out there.
[Where is MC?]
Sherlock - Would’ve made sure you were either picked up first, or refuse to go until you were with him.
John - Once you were with him, he would always keep you within arms reach, sleeping with his arms wrapped around you, waking up often to make sure you were still okay.
James - With him of course. Doing his best to make sure you never saw a single zombie.
Mycroft - Immediately he would come to get you with a group of soldiers, not that he didn’t trust them but more he didn’t trust them not to make a mistake and put you in danger.
Jack - With him. Although he would make sure you were aware of what was going on, he would be teaching you what he knew just in case.
Sebastian - Also with him, but you would hardly ever see him. Mostly you would be startled awake in the middle of the night when he would crawl into bed next to you, though he would be gone before you woke up the next day. He had many precious people he needed to protect.
Jeremy - he would’ve left you with Mycroft. While he would want to be out protecting people and helping he would rather you stay safe. Though he would be happy to have the help if you followed, he would make sure you stayed with those you were helping to protect if the undead approached.
Hercule - He would make sure you were safe first, and while he helped he would ask that you stay away, just in case someone infected came in.
Arthur - He would want you safe, he would demand that he either be allowed to go get you or that you were picked up. If they refused to go get you he would leave to find you.
George - He would bring the survivors he found back to you and do what he could to protect you all.
Mikah - If you’re brought in together because he was home, he would stay by your side, trying to take your mind off of things. If he was away at school he would pray every night for your safety.
Henry - You are also on his list, though he would hardly ever see you making sure you were kept in a place where you could be comfortable and safe.
Edward - Offer you his place when the soldiers came, asking you to go somewhere safe. If not, he would make sure you were protected. Teaching you self defense whenever he had a chance.
‘Irene’ - you are her first stop. Her first priority. She would find you and help you hide, checking over you to make sure she wasn’t too late. She’d do what she could to help make sure that you two were accepted into whatever group you two came across, but always insisted to keep moving, never staying with one group for too long.
#guard me sherlock#zombies#zombie apocalypse#Sherlock Holmes#John Watson#James Morairty#Mycroft Holmes#Jack Stillman#Sebastian Moran#Jeremy Cassel#Hercule Poirot#Arthur Hastings#George Lestrade#Inspector Lestrade#Mikah Hudson#Henry Jekyll#Edward Hyde#Irene#talk to me#anon
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